chicken yard
1
1.7
- noun
- Montanans have known from the start how to stop the fox and coyote from robbing the chicken yard.
Examples
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Every morning, I collect eggs from the chicken yard before starting my day.
-
Despite his gimpy knee, Uncle Seth was only a step behind me when we came around the chicken yard.
Fiction book (2001) -
My father and I built a large chicken yard where the hens can roam freely.
-
The children enjoyed playing in the chicken yard, watching the chickens scratch at the ground.
Synonyms
24
1.6
A small building where people keep chickens or other birds
14
1.3
A small building where people keep chickens
12
1.4
A small farm building where chickens live
1
2.2
An enclosed outdoor area where chickens live and move
1
3.6
A small fenced area where hens live
1
7.3
A small building on a farm where chickens live
An enclosed yard where chickens or ducks are kept
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an enclosed area where chickens are kept' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'chicken' (domesticated fowl) with 'yard' (an area of ground). This simple noun+noun composition follows a common, literal pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Chicken yard comes from the simple idea of chicken + yard — a yard where chickens walk, peck, and stay. So it means 'an enclosed area where chickens or other poultry are kept'.