ranch

noun \ ˈranch \

Updated on: 21 May 2018

Definition of ranch

1 : a large farm for raising horses, beef cattle, or sheep

2 : a farm or area devoted to a particular specialty

3 : ranch house

See ranch defined for English-language learners

See ranch defined for kids

Examples of ranch in a Sentence

lives on a cattle ranch in Texas that's as big as the whole state of Rhode Island

Recent Examples of ranch from the Web

From her breakfast order at The Merc to videos of Henry the Pioneer Pup, the Food Network star has us hooked on ranch living with snapshots from Pawhuska.

— perri ormont blumberg, Southern Living, "See World's Cutest Baby Photo of Ree Drummond's Daughter Paige," 16 May 2018
While his art has taken him around the world, Turrell lives with his wife Kyung-Lim on a cattle ranch not far from Roden Crater.

— scott craven, azcentral, "James Turrell: Artist transforming a Flagstaff crater has blazed a career in light, shadow and illusion," 16 May 2018
By their accounts, the former Boy Scout had a happy, stable childhood growing on a ranch on the outskirts of New Braunfels, Texas.

— jacob gershman and nancy a. youssef, WSJ, "Texas Church Shooter Was Ticking Time Bomb," 7 May 2018
My inspiration for music came from [my home] because my mother grew up on a ranch in a small town in New Mexico called Springer.

— michael saponara, Billboard, "Meet Bobby Feeno: Former NFL Star Arian Foster on His Rap Alter Ego and Kanye West's Tweets," 3 May 2018
The Bhagwan’s followers have a school on the ranch.

— david sarasohn, The New Republic, "Antelope’s Last Stand," 12 Apr. 2018
Cattle make up a major chunk of Texas' livestock inventory, with over 20 million cattle roaming on ranches across the state.

— sydney greene, star-telegram, "Texas cattle ranchers uneasy over proposed Chinese tariffs on beef | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 5 Apr. 2018
Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has already broken ground on a 40-acre ranch in California that aims to be a cannabis resort for growers and enthusiasts of the drug.

— chris morris, Fortune, "Chronic Problems Cast Cloud Over California's Marijuana Mecca," 28 Mar. 2018
There were no such complaints from the National Cattlemen's Beef Assn., which not only hosted Pruitt on a Colorado ranch, but also persuaded him to star in its advocacy video filmed there.

— evan halper, latimes.com, "EPA chief's clean-water rollback shaped by secrecy, luxury travel and handpicked audiences," 2 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ranch.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ranch

Mexican Spanish rancho small ranch, from Spanish, camp, hut & Spanish dialect, small farm, from Old Spanish ranchearse to take up quarters, from Middle French se ranger to take up a position, from ranger to set in a row — more at range

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First Known Use: 1831

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

ranch Synonyms

Synonyms

estate, farm, farmstead, grange;

Related Words

farmland, farmyard;

farmhouse, hacienda, homestead, manor, plantation, spread;

garden, orchard;

ranch

verb

Definition of ranch

intransitive verb

: to live or work on a ranch

transitive verb

1 : to work as a rancher on

2 : to raise on a ranch

See ranch defined for English-language learners

Examples of ranch in a Sentence

My grandfather started ranching here 150 years ago.
The family has ranched 10,000 acres here for the past 150 years.
The family has been ranching cattle here for 150 years.

Recent Examples of ranch from the Web

The bureau has begun distributing an unusual new accessory for some of its employees to wear: A card with an image of an oil rig on one side and cattle ranching on the other.

— dino grandoni, Washington Post, "The Energy 202: Interior agency gives employees "vision cards" depicting oil rigs," 16 Mar. 2018
Jordan grew up in a ranching family on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, began her political career on a tribal council, and developed a reputation in the state legislature for reaching across party lines.

— danielle jackson, Longreads, "Could Paulette Jordan of Idaho Become the Country’s First Native American Governor?," 30 Apr. 2018
Environmental groups opposed to this type of grazing are glad to see ranching decline on public lands.

— jim carlton, WSJ, "In the Battle for the American West, the Cowboys Are Losing," 30 Mar. 2018
Buffalo Heights is being developed by Midway for Russell Gordy, a Houstonian who manages his family's vast interests in real estate, oil and gas and ranching operations.

— paul takahashi, Houston Chronicle, "H-E-B buys land in Upper Kirby for new mixed-use project," 6 Feb. 2018
When Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke visited the region last summer to evaluate the Obama administration’s adjustments, the region’s logging and ranching communities opened their arms to the scrutiny.

— kurtis alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, "Along California-Oregon border, debate over protected lands is clash of values," 4 Mar. 2018
Our founder, John Tarleton, ranched in northern Erath County and had a large herd in the last decades of the 19th century.

— f. dominic dottavio, star-telegram, "Tarleton: Feeling at home in Fort Worth | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 23 Feb. 2018
The bill was supported by the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association and the Wisconsin Independent Business Association, a representative of farming and ranching interests.

— paul a. smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Smith: Wolf poaching bill deserves to be buried," 10 Jan. 2018
Conservationists, tribal officials, ranching groups and other interests sought to influence the review’s outcome, unsuccessfully in the case of the two Utah sites.

— juliet eilperin, Washington Post, "Uranium firm urged Trump officials to shrink Bears Ears National Monument," 8 Dec. 2017

First Known Use of ranch

1851

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

RANCH Defined for English Language Learners

ranch

noun

Definition of ranch for English Language Learners

: a large farm especially in the U.S. where animals (such as cattle, horses, and sheep) are raised
: a farm for a special crop or kind of animal

ranch

verb

Definition of ranch for English Language Learners

: to live or work on a ranch
: to raise (an animal) on a ranch

RANCH Defined for Kids

ranch

noun \ ˈranch \

Definition of ranch for Students

1 : a large farm for the raising of livestock (as cattle)

2 : a farm devoted to a special crop

History for ranch

In the Spanish language of the 1500s the verb rancharse was used by soldiers in the sense “to be camped” someplace. The conquistadors who took this verb to the Americas also were familiar with a derivative noun rancho, referring originally to a camp or temporary dwelling such as a hut. Both the general sense “dwelling” and the specifically Mexican sense “small farm” were adopted into American English in the 1800s—as rancho and the more English-sounding ranch. By the late 1800s ranch was most often not a small farm but a large piece of land devoted to raising livestock—a meaning the word still maintains.

ranch

verb

Definition of ranch for Students

ranched; ranching

: to live or work on a large farm where livestock are raised

—

rancher

noun

Learn More about ranch

See words that rhyme with ranch Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for ranch Spanish Central: Translation of ranch Nglish: Translation of ranch for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of ranch for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about ranch

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ranch

Definition of ranch

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Origin and Etymology of ranch

ranch Synonyms

Synonyms

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ranch

Definition of ranch

Examples of ranch in a Sentence

Recent Examples of ranch from the Web

First Known Use of ranch

RANCH Defined for English Language Learners

ranch

Definition of ranch for English Language Learners

ranch

Definition of ranch for English Language Learners

RANCH Defined for Kids

ranch

Definition of ranch for Students

History for ranch

ranch

Definition of ranch for Students

rancher

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