cattle grid
- noun
- /ˈkætəl ɡrɪd/
- UK
:
rejilla para ganado
- Vehicles can easily cross the cattle grid while preventing cows from wandering onto the road.
Examples
-
The farmer repaired the cattle grid at the entrance of the field to keep the livestock inside.
-
Whole bloody thing got caught in a cattle grid.
-
To access the pasture, we had to drive over the cattle grid that kept the cattle from escaping.
Synonyms
1
4.3
A set of metal bars over a gap in a road that stops cows from crossing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun compound combines 'cattle' (livestock) with 'grid' (a grating of parallel bars), so its referent — a grating designed in relation to cattle that prevents their passage while allowing vehicles — is directly inferable from the parts. This straightforward compositional pattern (noun + noun) is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily deduce the meaning.
Etymology
Cattle grid comes from farms: it is a row of metal bars called a grid set over a ditch at a field entrance. The gaps feel unsafe to cattle, so the animals will not walk across, but people and cars can go over it. That's why a cattle grid is used to 'prevent' animals from leaving a field without a gate.