ranch

[ranch] /ræntʃ/
noun
1.
an establishment maintained for raising livestock under range conditions.
2.
Chiefly Western U.S. and Canada. a large farm used primarily to raise one kind of crop or animal:
a mink ranch.
3.
a dude ranch.
4.
the persons employed or living on a ranch.
5.
ranch house.
verb (used without object)
6.
to manage or work on a ranch.
Origin
1800-10, Americanism; < Spanish rancho rancho
Related forms
ranchless, adjective
ranchlike, adjective
unranched, adjective
Examples from the web for ranch
  • Other times, they haul them to a game ranch to be turned lose and become a problem again.
  • Most ranch operators sell their catch to foreign customers.
  • And personal experience has taught me the indispensability of a tractor for lifting and moving heavy objects on a ranch.
  • They lived in a big ranch house, with a kitchen roomy enough for a couch.
British Dictionary definitions for ranch

ranch

/rɑːntʃ/
noun
1.
a large tract of land, esp one in North America, together with the necessary personnel, buildings, and equipment, for rearing livestock, esp cattle
2.
  1. any large farm for the rearing of a particular kind of livestock or crop: a mink ranch
  2. the buildings, land, etc, connected with it
verb
3.
(intransitive) to manage or run a ranch
4.
(transitive) to raise (animals) on or as if on a ranch
Word Origin
C19: from Mexican Spanish rancho small farm; see rancho
Word Origin and History for ranch
n.

1808, "country house," from American Spanish rancho "small farm, group of farm huts," from Spanish rancho "mess-room," originally, "group of people who eat together," from ranchear "to lodge or station," from Old French ranger "install in position," from rang "row, line" (see rank (n.)).

Sense of "large stock-farm and herding establishment" is from 1831. Of houses, "single-story, split-level" (adj.) from 1950; as a noun from 1960. Ranch-house attested from 1862.

v.

1866, from ranch (n.). Related: Ranched; ranching.

Slang definitions & phrases for ranch

ranch

Related Terms

buy the farm, hencoop