to farm
- verb
- /fɑrm/
- Archaic
- She took over many of the financial functions that were once farmed out to an accountant, which saved money, Coe says.
Sold a bunch of put contracts to farm as much yield as I could while volatility was spiking and some of these stocks fell to record lows intra year.
- Sold a bunch of put contracts to farm as much yield as I could while volatility was spiking and some of these stocks fell to record lows intra year.
Examples
-
The governor decided to farm out the collection of tolls to a private company for a fixed annual fee.
-
In the 18th century, many aristocrats chose to farm the tax collection rights from the local peasants.
-
I offered to farm the work out to another writer for a lower rate.
Blog text (10) -
Well, when you farm out policymaking to the masses, that's to be expected, right?
Blog text (34) -
Back then, when the Sandinista government expanded the public education system, they farmed almost all of the nation's schools out to churches to run.
Academic text (2007) -
Historically, some merchants would farm the privilege to collect rents from landlords in exchange for a set payment.
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- Specialized
An area of land or sea with many tall machines that make electricity from wind
A very large place where people keep many animals in small spaces to make meat, milk, or eggs
- Archaic
A large farm where many people work together, usually run by the government
- Offensive
An informal name for a place where people stay to lose weight by diet and exercise
- Slur
An extremely offensive insulting word for Black people originally used for farm workers
Surface Forms
Etymology
Farm originally meant getting a 'fixed payment' or rent from land, so in earlier times to farm could mean to collect fees or taxes for someone else. The idea of a set payment explains this historical meaning.