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Definition of farm noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

farm

noun
 
/fɑːm/
 
/fɑːrm/
Idioms
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  1. an area of land, and the buildings on it, used for growing crops and/or keeping animals
    • a 200-hectare farm
    • a dairy farm
    • an organic farm
    • a pig/sheep/poultry farm
    • He runs the farm on his own.
    • on a farm to live on a farm
    • She works on the family farm.
    • at a farm At harvest time they helped out at the farm.
    • a farm worker/labourer
    • farm animals
    • farm buildings/machinery
    • farm income/subsidies
    • (North American English) a farm family
    see also city farm, collective farm
    Collocations FarmingFarmingGrowing food and raising animals
    • plant trees/​seeds/​crops/​vines/​barley
    • grow/​produce corn/​wheat/​rice/​fruit
    • plough/(North American English) plow land/​a field
    • sow/​harvest seeds/​crops/​fields
    • spread manure/​fertilizer on something
    • cultivate/​irrigate/​water/​contaminate crops/​plants/​fields/​land
    • damage/​destroy/​lose your crop
    • ripen/​pick fruit/​berries/​grapes
    • press/​dry/​ferment grapes
    • grind/​thresh grain/​corn/​wheat
    • raise/​rear/​keep chickens/​poultry/​cattle/​pigs
    • raise/​breed/​feed/​graze livestock/​cattle/​sheep
    • kill/​slaughter livestock
    • preserve/​smoke/​cure/​salt meat
    Modern farming
    • run a fish farm/​an organic dairy farm
    • engage in/​be involved in intensive (pig/​fish) farming
    • use/​apply (chemical/​organic) fertilizer/​insecticides/​pesticides
    • begin/​do/​conduct field trials of GM (= genetically modified) crops
    • grow/​develop GM crops/​seeds/​plants/​foods
    • fund/​invest in genetic engineering/​research
    • improve/​increase crop yields
    • face/​suffer from/​alleviate food shortages
    • label food that contains GMOs (= genetically modified organisms)
    • eliminate/​reduce farm subsidies
    • oppose/​be against factory farming/​GM food
    • promote/​encourage/​support organic/​sustainable farming
    Extra Examples
    • During the war, few men were left to work the farm.
    • Farm incomes rose 11% last year.
    • Farm produce, including fruit and corn, was their principal export.
    • He had lived on that farm all his life.
    • I was raised on a country farm.
    • Local farm supply stores are expected to lose business.
    • Republicans hope to pass the farm bill in the current fiscal year.
    • She lives on the next farm.
    • Ten model farms have been set up to showcase modern production methods.
    • The 80-acre farm now operates around the clock.
    • The EU has decided to cut farm subsidies.
    • The area combines a working farm and a farming museum.
    • The children had to work on the family farm.
    • The farm economy was stable.
    • The farm lies on the hills above the lake.
    • The myth of happy and contented animals down on the farm is now far from the truth.
    • The police are investigating a fire at a farm near Whitby.
    • Today, the farm sector employs about 3% of our workforce.
    • We anticipate our overall farm production next year to be lower.
    • a dairy farm producing gourmet cheeses
    • a poor farm family
    • an Illinois farm town
    • farm products such as eggs and vegetables
    • the EU farm policy
    • the US farm program for wheat
    • the rolling farm country of central Kentucky
    • village and farm life
    • Many farm workers face low wages and poor working conditions.
    • The two disused farm buildings have stood empty since we took over the farm ten years ago.
    Topics Farminga1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • big
    • large
    • little
    verb + farm
    • have
    • own
    • manage
    farm + verb
    • be located
    • lie
    • grow something
    farm + noun
    • produce
    • product
    • animal
    preposition
    • at a/​the farm
    • down on the farm
    • on a/​the farm
    See full entry
  2. (also farmhouse)
    the main house on a farm, where the farmer livesTopics Houses and homesb1, Buildingsb1, Farmingb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • big
    • large
    • little
    verb + farm
    • have
    • own
    • manage
    farm + verb
    • be located
    • lie
    • grow something
    farm + noun
    • produce
    • product
    • animal
    preposition
    • at a/​the farm
    • down on the farm
    • on a/​the farm
    See full entry
  3. (especially in compounds) a place where particular fish or animals are kept in order to produce young
    • a trout/mink farm
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • big
    • large
    • little
    verb + farm
    • have
    • own
    • manage
    farm + verb
    • be located
    • lie
    • grow something
    farm + noun
    • produce
    • product
    • animal
    preposition
    • at a/​the farm
    • down on the farm
    • on a/​the farm
    See full entry
  4. see also battery farm, factory farm, fish farm, funny farm, health farm, server farm, sewage farm, solar farm, troll farm, truck farm, wind farm, wine farm
    Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French ferme, from medieval Latin firma ‘fixed payment’, from Latin firmare ‘fix, settle’ (in medieval Latin ‘contract for’), from firmus ‘constant, firm’; compare with firm (noun). The noun originally denoted a fixed annual amount payable as rent or tax; which later gave rise to ‘to subcontract’ (farm somebody/​something out to somebody. ). The noun came to denote ‘a lease’, and, in the early 16th cent., ‘land leased for farming’.
Idioms
bet the farm/ranch on something
  1. (North American English, informal) to risk everything you have on an investment, a bet, etc.
    • The company bet the farm on the new marketing model, only to find that it wasn’t successful.
buy back the farm
  1. (Australian English, New Zealand English, informal) to get back a country's assets, such as land or property, after they have been owned by another country
    • The prime minister revealed his plan to buy back the farm from foreign ownership.
buy the farm
  1. (North American English, informal) to die
sell off the farm
  1. (Australian English, New Zealand English, informal) to sell a country's assets, such as land or property, to foreign owners
    • The government is happy to keep selling off the farm.
See farm in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee farm in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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