ranch

Definition

A large plot of land used for raising cattle, sheep or other livestock.

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.

Example Sentences

• "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 […].”"