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 Words From

• ranchless adjective
• ranchlike adjective
• un·ranched 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

Grant replaces traditional corn with rice, smothering it in Pecorino and a vegan ranch.

From Washington Blade

Stemple Creek, for example, uses techniques on its entire ranch to offset beef emissions.

From MIT Technology Review

Roughly 100 years after Cross founded his ranch, it passed into the hands of his grandson John.

From Fortune

Then all of a sudden, there’s like a whole neighborhood of ranch-style homes or ranches, and these people have homes out in the middle of the forest, essentially, or a dried forest.

From ProPublica

He gave it to me before I went to live on a cattle ranch in Brazil, where I wouldn’t have any connection with the outside world for months.

From Fortune

My dad had worked for a while as a ranch hand, and his “Open Road” was a remnant of those days.

From The Daily Beast

She is a waitress, he helps run the family ranch, and something more criminal.

From The Daily Beast

Of all the people to look up to for a back-to-nature stance, why the monster from Spahn Ranch?

From The Daily Beast

On November 23, from his ranch in Texas, Johnson spoke on the phone with acting Secretary of State George Ball.

From The Daily Beast

He does not remember exactly when they first moved onto the ranch.

From The Daily Beast

Sometimes he did, although when I saw the worst coming I generally managed to get him over to the ranch.

From Project Gutenberg

Of course you would have all the riding you wanted, but there are no round-ups worth speaking of on a ranch the size of Lumalitas.

From Project Gutenberg

You have no idea how cosey and pretty your ranch-house looks, and I have sent out my uncle's law—and farm—library.

From Project Gutenberg

He gathered the heap and flung it into a corner, then caught up his hat and struck out for the loneliest part of the ranch.

From Project Gutenberg

Many acres of the ranch were profitably let, although by the month only, as pasture both for cows and horses.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dairy farm
• estate
• homestead
• land
• plantation