ranch
nounverbcommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈɹɑːnt͡ʃ//
- United States//ˈɹænt͡ʃ//
- United States/[ˈɹʷænt͡ʃ]/
- //ˈɹeə̯nt͡ʃ//
- /[ˈɹʷeə̯nt͡ʃ]/
A large plot of land used for raising cattle, sheep or other livestock.
noun
- 1
A large plot of land used for raising cattle, sheep or other livestock.
There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town. “Mason Rickets, he had ten big punkins a-sittin' in front of his store, an' them fellers from the Upside-down-F ranch shot 'em up […].”
- 2
A small farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock, especially one in the Southwestern United States.
- 3
A house or property on a plot of ranch land.
- 4
A ranch-style house.
- 5
Ranch dressing.
Etymology
Recorded since 1808, farm sense since 1831. From American Spanish rancho (“small farm, group of farm huts”), in Spanish originally “group of people who eat together." Cognate with English rank.
verb
- 1
To operate a ranch; to engage in ranching.
Formally the widow still ranches, but in fact she leaves all ranching to the foreman.
- 2
To work on a ranch.
Bill had ranched only five years when his dad made him foreman.
Forms
- plural
- ranches
- past tense
- ranched
- past participle
- ranched
- present participle
- ranching
- third person singular
- ranches
ranch · A large plot of land used for raising cattle, sheep or other livestock.
rand · The border of an area of land, now especially marshland.Rand · The Witwatersrand, a gold-mining geographic area also known…Randall · A male given name from the Germanic languages.