barn

noun

ˈbärn 

1

a

: a usually large building for the storage of farm products or feed and usually for the housing of farm animals or farm equipment

b

: an unusually large and usually bare building

a great barn of a hotel

—W. A. White

2

: a large building for the housing of a fleet of vehicles (such as trolley cars or trucks)

barnlike

ˈbärn-ˌlīk 

adjective

barny

ˈbär-nē 

adjective

Examples of barn in a Sentence

They live in a big barn of a house.

Recent Examples on the Web

But instead of walls and doors, guests often find frosted glass, sliding barn doors, half-doors, or nothing at all—leaving toilets in full view from the bed. —Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 22 Aug. 2025

According to the records, the farm includes a 32,500-square-foot milking parlor, along with two free-stall barns—one built in 2017 spanning more than 450,000 square feet and another completed last year covering over 100,000 square feet. —Jesus Mesa gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025

Carroll County firefighters extinguished a two-alarm barn fire Tuesday at Coldsprings Dairy Farm in New Windsor, officials said. —Chevall Pryce, Baltimore Sun, 19 Aug. 2025

One chassis wasn’t bodied and finished until 1965 after earlier being discovered in a barn. —Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 18 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English bern, from Old English bereærn, from bere barley + ærn house, store

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing barn

• barn burner
• barn dance
• barn lot
• barn owl
• barn raising
• barn swallow

Rhymes for barn

• arn
• barne
• carn
• darn
• garn
• karn
• skarn
• yarn

Kids Definition

barn

noun

ˈbärn 

: a building used chiefly for storing grain and hay and for housing farm animals or farm equipment

Medical Definition

barn

noun

ˈbärn 

: a unit of area equal to 10⁻²⁴ square centimeters that is used in nuclear physics for measuring cross section