cattle guard
1
4.3
- noun
- /ˈkætəl ɡɑrd/
- US
:
barrera para ganado
- The cattle guard at the entrance to the ranch ensured that the cows stayed in their pasture while vehicles could pass through safely.
- cross a cattle guard
Examples
-
But these two protesters stretched out head to head right in front of the cattle guard so Tucker couldn't drive around them.
Fiction book (2002) -
More bumps and lurches across two cattle guards, rusty wire curled on the ground, an empty Lone Star beer bottle sitting on a wooden fence post.
Fiction book (1993) -
Make a right onto an unnamed road that has a cattle guard.
Blog text (4) -
The truck rumbled over the cattle guard of the exit gate.
Fiction book (1993) -
Also, for a while you listen to engines near and farther away, to tires bumping over cattle guards.
Fiction book (1996) -
The truck rattled over a cattle guard at the far end of Fox Run, and suddenly, the road was washboard dirt.
Fiction book (2000) -
Too late, Nora jammed on the brakes; the truck struck the cattle guard and was airborne.
Fiction book (2000) -
After an unbearably long moment, her headlights finally picked up the outer cattle guard looming from the darkness ahead, along with the row of old mailboxes nailed to a long horizontal board beside it.
Fiction book (2000) -
As we drove along the dirt road, the vehicle bumped loudly as it crossed the cattle guard that prevented livestock from wandering onto the path.
-
After stopping to take a picture, we carefully drove over the cattle guard, which allowed us to continue our journey without the risk of cattle blocking the road.
Synonyms
A metal grate over a gap in a road that stops cows from walking across
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a transparent noun compound: 'cattle' (livestock) + 'guard' (a protective barrier) clearly yields a device that guards against or controls cattle movement. A B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer it is a barrier used with cattle, even if they might not picture the exact metal-bar construction.
Etymology
Cattle guard comes from ranch life: it is a row of metal bars set over a ditch that cars can drive over but cattle will not because their feet can slip in the gaps, so they do not cross. That's why a cattle guard 'guards' the land and 'stops cattle from crossing'.