pasture

1 of 2

noun

pas·​ture ˈpas-chər How to pronounce pasture (audio)
1
: plants (such as grass) grown for the feeding especially of grazing animals
2
: land or a plot of land used for grazing
3
: the feeding of livestock : grazing

pasture

2 of 2

verb

pastured; pasturing

transitive verb

1
: to feed (animals, such as cattle) on pasture
2
: to use as pasture

Examples of pasture in a Sentence

Noun The horses were grazing in the pasture. Most of their land is pasture. Verb The horses are pastured on several acres of land. pasturing sheep on town lands was actually a cheaper alternative to mowing
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Wine Tasting in Montalcino Photo: Getty Images A quaint hilltop town in Tuscany’s countryside, Montalcino appears frozen in time with its rolling pastures, cobblestone streets, and medieval architecture. Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 12 Mar. 2024 The park stretches across 209 acres of pasture, floodplain and forest with the line of Black Hills rising in the west. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 7 Mar. 2024 The number of cattle in the region fluctuates as ranchers rent pasture for their herds. Sean Murphy, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2024 The historic Turkey Track Ranch in Hutchinson County lost around 80% of its pastures, plains and creek bottom vegetation to the Smokehouse Creek Fire, ranch managers said in a statement Wednesday. Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Feb. 2024 Exploring Louisville’s Thriving Dining Scene While Kentucky is home to verdant pastures and a whole lot of livestock, one of Louisville’s most robust dining scenes involves a somewhat unexpected type of meat: namely, seafood. Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024 Degradation of pastures and forests imperils the livelihoods of farmers. Ramachandra Guha, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024 The view from his balcony was expansive — verdant pastures, horses and cattle, a pond rich with fish. Bishop Sand, Washington Post, 17 Feb. 2024 Electric fences can keep bears, wolves and coyotes out of calving and lambing pastures. Ben Long, The Denver Post, 13 Feb. 2024
Verb
So, what sort of romantic connections were snuffed out in those dark hours when Feeld was out to pasture? Gina Cherelus, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2023 Even in decades after WWI, putting ships out to pasture on the Neches was common practice, the man said. David K. Li, NBC News, 31 Aug. 2023 Otherwise, these carcasses are likely to attract wolves, and the wolves might then become habituated to finding food in an area where cattle are pastured. Dawn Stover, oregonlive, 12 Apr. 2023 During the rainy season from April to October, the swamp would swell, leading to a dry season where communities here would take their livestock to pasture and grow crops. Esther Castillejo, ABC News, 19 Apr. 2023 At that point, the rancher removed John’s shoes and put him out to pasture to gain more weight. Claire Panosian Dunavan, Discover Magazine, 11 Jan. 2018 And why is that a taboo, and why are we put out to pasture? Sarah Spellings, Vogue, 27 Sep. 2022 Michael Saylor, perhaps the biggest Bitcoin bull of them all, has wandered out to pasture as CEO of his analytics and software company, MicroStrategy. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2022 Next-generation instruments could be sensitive enough to answer whether this dark matter horse wins it all — or needs to be put out to pasture. Adam Hadhazy, Discover Magazine, 15 Nov. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pasture.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin pastura, from Latin pastus, past participle of pascere to feed — more at food

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of pasture was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near pasture

Cite this Entry

“Pasture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pasture. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pasture

1 of 2 noun
pas·​ture ˈpas-chər How to pronounce pasture (audio)
1
: plants (as grass) for feeding especially grazing animals
2
: land or a plot of land used for grazing

pasture

2 of 2 verb
pastured; pasturing
1
2
: to feed (as cattle) on pasture

More from Merriam-Webster on pasture

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