Barn

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Barn \Barn\ (b[aum]rn), n. [OE. bern, AS. berern, bern; bere
     barley + ern, [ae]rn, a close place. [root]92. See {Barley}.]
     A covered building used chiefly for storing grain, hay, and
     other productions of a farm. In the United States a part of
     the barn is often used for stables.
     [1913 Webster]


  
     {Barn owl} (Zool.), an owl of Europe and America ({Aluco
        flammeus}, or {Strix flammea}), which frequents barns and
        other buildings.
  
     {Barn swallow} (Zool.), the common American swallow ({Hirundo
        horreorum}), which attaches its nest of mud to the beams
        and rafters of barns.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Barn \Barn\, v. t.
     To lay up in a barn. [Obs.] --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Men . . . often barn up the chaff, and burn up the
           grain.                                   --Fuller.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Barn \Barn\, n.
     A child. See {Bairn}. [Obs.]
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  barn
       n 1: an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed
            and housing farm animals
       2: (physics) a unit of nuclear cross section; the effective
          circular area that one particle presents to another as a
          target for an encounter [syn: {b}]

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  barn n. [uncommon; prob. from the nuclear military] An unexpectedly
     large quantity of something: a unit of measurement. "Why is /var/adm
     taking up so much space?" "The logs have grown to several barns." The
     source of this is clear: when physicists were first studying nuclear
     interactions, the probability was thought to be proportional to the
     cross-sectional area of the nucleus (this probability is still called
     the cross-section). Upon experimenting, they discovered the interactions
     were far more probable than expected; the nuclei were `as big as a
     barn'. The units for cross-sections were christened Barns, (10^-24 cm^2)
     and the book containing cross-sections has a picture of a barn on the
     cover.
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Barn
     a storehouse (Deut. 28:8; Job 39:12; Hag. 2:19) for grain, which
     was usually under ground, although also sometimes above ground
     (Luke 12:18).
     

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  BARN, estates. A building on a farm used to receive the crop, the stabling 
  of animals, and other purposes. 
       2. The grant or demise of a barn, without words superadded to extend 
  its meaning, would pass no more than the barn itself, and as much land as 
  would be necessary for its complete enjoyment. 4 Serg. & Rawle, 342.