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
W. A. White2
: a large building for the housing of a fleet of vehicles (such as trolley cars or trucks)
Examples of barn in a Sentence
They live in a big barn of a house.
Recent Examples on the Web
After torching Awad’s jeep, the settlers shifted their attention to the barn adjacent to his house, which contained 10 tons of animal feed, and set it on fire as well.
—Basel Adra, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2025
The first sliver of light in the east revealed their movable aviary, a box of netted scaffolding the size of a barn, with a few dozen birds perched in silhouette, like hieroglyphs.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
By today’s standards, a 10,000-chicken farm is tiny — a single industrial-style chicken barn will now house upward of 40,000 birds at a time, and farmers usually own several barns apiece.
—Kenny Torrella, Vox, 9 Feb. 2025
Developing a way to detect H5N1 in these conditions required specific strategies for each species, says Rhys.
To evaluate pathogens that affect chickens, which relieve themselves everywhere in the barn, the farmers wear booties that end up getting covered in the animals’ waste.
—Alice Park, TIME, 4 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for barn 
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Basel Adra, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2025
The first sliver of light in the east revealed their movable aviary, a box of netted scaffolding the size of a barn, with a few dozen birds perched in silhouette, like hieroglyphs.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
By today’s standards, a 10,000-chicken farm is tiny — a single industrial-style chicken barn will now house upward of 40,000 birds at a time, and farmers usually own several barns apiece.
—Kenny Torrella, Vox, 9 Feb. 2025
Developing a way to detect H5N1 in these conditions required specific strategies for each species, says Rhys.
To evaluate pathogens that affect chickens, which relieve themselves everywhere in the barn, the farmers wear booties that end up getting covered in the animals’ waste.
—Alice Park, TIME, 4 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for barn
Dictionary Entries Near barn
Cite this Entry
“Barn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barn. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
barn
noun
: a building used chiefly for storing grain and hay and for housing farm animals or farm equipment
Medical Definition
barn
noun
: a unit of area equal to 10−24 square centimeters that is used in nuclear physics for measuring cross section
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