barn

barn — noun

1. a farm building used for keeping animals or storing hay, grain, or equipment.

1.nounA2
Definition

a farm building used for keeping animals or storing hay, grain, or equipment.

Example

The children helped Grandpa carry hay into the barn before sunset.

carry hay into the barn

A black cat slept on a warm shelf inside the barn.

Common collocations
  • old barn
  • red barn
  • barn full of hay
  • clean the barn
  • move cattle into the barn
Synonyms
  • stable

    used more specifically for horses or similar animals

  • shed

    usually smaller and often for tools or one clear purpose

  • warehouse

    a large storage building in business settings, not on a farm

Grammar Patterns

in the barn

into the barn

a barn full of hay

Usage Note

Often used with in or into when talking about animals, hay, tools, or machines being moved inside.

Common Mistakes

We stored hay in barn behind the house.
We stored hay in the barn behind the house.
'barn' is a countable noun, so it needs an article or another determiner.
Idioms

lock the barn door after the horse has bolted

idiom

to act only after the harm has already been done, when the action cannot really help.

Changing the password after the money was stolen was locking the barn door after the horse had bolted.

After three crashes, the new warning signs felt like locking the barn door after the horse had bolted.

close, lock, etc. the barn door after the horse has escaped

idiom

This means trying to fix a problem after the damage has already happened.

Maya installed antivirus software after her computer crashed, closing the barn door after the horse escaped.

Did Diego really think locking the gate after the dog ran away would help?

Word family

  • barnyard
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These words all name buildings, but they are used in different places and for different jobs. A barn is the general farm building for animals, hay, grain, or tools. A stable is more specific: it is mainly for horses. A shed is usually smaller and simpler, often used for tools, bikes, or garden things rather than farm animals. A warehouse is much larger and belongs to business or transport, not ordinary farm life. So you can say 'The cows are in the barn,' but 'The horses are in the stable.' A farmer may keep hay in a barn, while a shop keeps boxes in a warehouse.

barn ↗stable ↗shedwarehouse ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • barn door
  • barn roof
  • barn wall
  • barn cat

Phrases

  • build a barn
  • clean the barn
  • store hay in the barn

Prepositions

  • in the barn
  • into the barn
  • behind the barn

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

The word comes from Old English 'bere-aern', which meant a place for barley. Over time, the form became shorter, and the meaning grew wider, from a building for grain to the general farm building called a barn today.