a tract of land, usually with a house, barn, silo, etc., on which crops and often livestock are raised for livelihood.
land or water devoted to the raising of animals, fish, plants, etc.: a pig farm; an oyster farm; a tree farm.
a similar, usually commercial, site where a product is manufactured or cultivated:a cheese farm; a honey farm.
the system, method, or act of collecting revenue by leasing a territory in districts.
a country or district leased for the collection of revenue.
a fixed yearly amount accepted from a person in view of local or district taxes that he or she is authorized to collect.
a tract of land on which an industrial function is carried out, as the drilling or storage of oil or the generation of electricity by solar power.
a place or business that serves a specified type of client or customer: a fat farm; funny farms.
a business or place that turns out specified products or services in the manner of a factory; a mill: an online content farm.
English History.
the rent or income from leased property.
the condition of being leased at a fixed rent; possession under lease; a lease.
Also called farm team,farm club .Chiefly Baseball. a team in a minor league that is owned by or affiliated with a major-league team, for training or keeping players until ready or needed.
Obsolete. a fixed yearly amount payable in the form of rent, taxes, or the like.
verb (used with object)
to cultivate (land).
to raise (animals, fish, plants, etc.) on land or in water.
to take the proceeds or profits of (a tax, undertaking, etc.) on paying a fixed sum.
to let or lease (taxes, revenues, an enterprise, etc.) to another for a fixed sum or a percentage (often followed by out).
to let or lease the labor or services of (a person) for hire.
to contract for the maintenance of (a person, institution, etc.): a county that farms its poor.
(in a video game) to collect (valuable items) for a character’s use or to sell in the game’s virtual economy by repeatedly performing a task for a reward or killing an enemy for a dropped item: I farm crafting supplies just to sell them at the auction house.
verb (used without object)
to cultivate the soil; operate a farm.
Verb Phrases
farm out,
to assign (work, privileges, or the like) to another by financial agreement; subcontract; lease: The busy shipyard farmed out two construction jobs to a smaller yard.
to assign the care of (a child or dependent person) to another: She farms her elderly aunt out to a retired nurse during the workweek.
Chiefly Baseball.to assign (a player) to a farm.
to exhaust (farmland) by overcropping.
to drill (oil or gas wells), especially by subcontract on land owned or leased by another.
Idioms for farm
buy the farm, Slang. to die or be killed.
Origin of farm
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ferme “lease, rented land, rent,” from Anglo-French, Old French, from Vulgar Latin ferma (unattested), derivative of fermāre (unattested) for Latin firmāre “to make firm, confirm”; see firm1
You can’t overlook the farm system that YouTube is building for content.
After years of ‘too much TV,’ the pandemic means there’s now barely enough|Aric Jenkins|August 27, 2020|Fortune
Vaccinating animals for their own health and for the protection of humans is commonly done on farms.
Can Vaccines for Wildlife Prevent Human Pandemics?|Rodrigo Pérez Ortega|August 24, 2020|Quanta Magazine
There’s a huge boom — lots of new chemicals, fertilizers, machinery, that make farms more productive.
How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Ep. 386 Rebroadcast)|Stephen J. Dubner|August 6, 2020|Freakonomics
The Miami Marlins, in the midst of a deep rebuild with what we project to be the second-worst run differential in the NL, have improved their farm system, which had been one of the worst in baseball.
The Dodgers Lead Our National League Predictions, But Don’t Count Out The Nats Or … Reds?|Travis Sawchik|July 22, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Because you need a wider base to support a taller turbine, beyond a certain tower height, the bases are too wide to be driven from factory to wind farm.
GE Will 3D Print the Bases of Wind Turbines Taller Than Seattle’s Space Needle|Jason Dorrier|June 21, 2020|Singularity Hub
When Reid came on board, he had only leased part of the land to farm on; the deal did not include the house.
Ester Elchies, The Estate Built By Whiskey||December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The classic film that opens with a tornado sweeping through a Kansas farm made its debut 75 years ago in 1939.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: November 2|PunditFact.com|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They also passed an outrageous Farm Bill that subsidizes rich farmers and keeps domestic prices artificially high.
Assuming GOP Does Take the Senate, Dems Have Nothing to Fear|Veronique de Rugy|November 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He negotiates with a hesitant Hershel who allows everyone to remain on the farm.
The Walking Dead’s Luke Skywalker: Rick Grimes Is the Perfect Modern-Day Mythical Hero|Regina Lizik|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At first Wales and Sanger conceived of Wikipedia merely as an adjunct to Nupedia, sort of like a feeder product or farm team.
You Can Look It Up: The Wikipedia Story|Walter Isaacson|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That slender slip of a woman does almost all their farm work, herself?
Dorothy on a House Boat|Evelyn Raymond
Fine links at the top of the hill, not half a mile from the farm.
Love Among the Chickens|P. G. Wodehouse
If they wish to keep their money invested in the farm, they will be given preferred stock in place of cash for their farms.
The Young Farmer: Some Things He Should Know|Thomas Forsyth Hunt
The farm was near the Indian camping ground; hundreds of them were often around us.
Forty Years Among the Indians|Daniel W. Jones
He had from thence, accompanied by them, gone to Shetland, where he had re-occupied his farm.
Ronald Morton, or the Fire Ships|W.H.G. Kingston
British Dictionary definitions for farm
farm
/ (fɑːm) /
noun
a tract of land, usually with house and buildings, cultivated as a unit or used to rear livestock
(as modifier)farm produce
(in combination)farmland
a unit of land or water devoted to the growing or rearing of some particular type of vegetable, fruit, animal, or fisha fish farm
an installation for storage
a district of which one or more taxes are leased
history
a fixed sum paid by an individual or group for the right of collecting and retaining taxes, rents, etc
a fixed sum paid regularly by a town, county, etc, in lieu of taxes
the leasing of a source of revenue to an individual or group
a fixed tax, rent, etc, paid regularly
verb
(tr)
to cultivate (land)
to rear (stock, etc) on a farm
(intr)to engage in agricultural work, esp as a way of life
(tr)to look after a child for a fixed sum
to collect the moneys due and retain the profits from (a tax district, business, etc) for a specified period on payment of a sum or sums
to operate (a franchise) under similar conditions
See also farm out
Derived forms of farm
farmable, adjective
Word Origin for farm
C13: from Old French ferme rented land, ultimately from Latin firmāre to settle