- yard
- noun1 piece of land next to a buildingADJECTIVE▪ front▪ back (usually backyard), rear (esp. BrE)▪ church (usually churchyard), farm (usually farmyard), kitchen (BrE), school (esp. AmE)▪
kids playing in the school yard
▪ livery (BrE), stable▪ exercise, prison▪The prisoners were taken to the exercise yard.
VERB + YARD▪ enter, leave▪He entered the yard through the back gate.
▪I left our school yard at recess and ran home.
▪ enclose, surround▪The yard was enclosed by a high wire fence.
2 (AmE) piece of land next to a house with grass ⇨ See also ↑gardenADJECTIVE▪ back (usually backyard), front, side▪ big, huge, large▪ small, tiny▪ fenced▪I have a well fenced yard far away from roads.
VERB + YARD▪ mow, rake, water▪My next-door neighbor was watering her yard.
▪ landscape▪I've landscaped my tiny front yard with tall grasses.
▪ decorate▪The outside yard was decorated with orange lights.
▪ fence▪The front yard is fenced for privacy.
▪ cover▪Most of the yard was covered with leaves.
▪ cross▪We crossed the yard to my house.
▪ enter, leave▪ overlook▪the huge bay window overlooking the yard
YARD + NOUN▪ sale▪I held a yard sale to get rid of my old stuff.
▪ sign▪The first Bush-Cheney yard sign appeared on my street last week.
PREPOSITION▪ in yard▪She was standing in the yard.
PHRASES▪ the corner of the yard, the edge of the yard, the middle of the yard, the side of the yard3 area used for a special purposeADJECTIVE▪ lumber (usually lumberyard) (AmE), timber (BrE)▪wood from a lumber yard
▪ freight, marshalling (BrE), rail, railroad (AmE), railway (BrE)▪ boat (usually boatyard), ship (usually shipyard), shipbuilding▪ breaker's (BrE), junk (usually junkyard) (esp. AmE), salvage (esp. AmE), scrap (usually scrapyard) (esp. BrE)▪The steam tug was on her way to the breaker's yard at the end of her naval service.
▪salvage yards with cars that are being sold for parts
▪ repair, storagePHRASES▪ a builder's yard, the knacker's yard (both BrE)▪a horse condemned to the knacker's yard
▪The company is heading for the knacker's yard. (figurative)
4 unit of measurement
Collocations dictionary. 2013.