ranch

[ranch]

noun

1. an establishment maintained for raising livestock under range conditions.

2. Chiefly Western U.S. and Canada.,  a large farm used primarily to raise one kind of crop or animal.

   a mink ranch.

3. a dude ranch.

4. the persons employed or living on a ranch.

5. ranch house.

6. ranch dressing.

   I’ll have the small salad, with ranch on the side.

verb (used without object)

1. to manage or work on a ranch.

ranch

/ rɑːntʃ /

noun

1. a large tract of land, esp one in North America, together with the necessary personnel, buildings, and equipment, for rearing livestock, esp cattle

2. 1. any large farm for the rearing of a particular kind of livestock or crop

      a mink ranch

   2. the buildings, land, etc, connected with it

verb

1. (intr) to manage or run a ranch

2. (tr) to raise (animals) on or as if on a ranch

Other Word Forms

• ranchless adjective
• ranchlike adjective
• unranched adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ranch¹

An Americanism dating from 1800–10; from Spanish rancho “farm, cattle farm, ranch”; rancho

Word History and Origins

Origin of ranch¹

C19: from Mexican Spanish rancho small farm; see _rancho

Example Sentences

Beef experts say that Argentina’s beef exports are just a small fraction of U.S. consumption and won’t instantaneously collapse the domestic ranching industry.

Read more on Salon

This summer, Fish and Wildlife staff spent 18,000 hours engaging in 95 hazing operations across 114 days at 18 ranches.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The family now also owns a home and working farm and ranch in Hawaii, where they throw CZI retreats with team building and karaoke, and a home in Lake Tahoe.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The Mitchell family, which has owned the Longfellow Ranch for decades, is eyeing additional opportunities that may triple the data center capacity on the ranch once Project Horizon is completed.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The couple had recently moved from the remote ranching town of Stinnett in the Texas panhandle, and the recruiter seemed to appreciate their Southern drawl.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dairy farm 
• estate 
• homestead 
• land 
• plantation