Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Yard

Yard , noun

[Old English yerd, Anglo-Saxon gierd, gyrd, a rod, stick, a measure, a yard; akin to OFries. ierde, Old Saxon gerda, Dutch garde, German gerte, Old High German gartia, gerta, gart, Icelandic gaddr a goad, sting, Gothic gazds, and probably to Latin hasta a spear. Compare Gad, n., Gird, n., Gride, v. i., Hastate.]

1.
A rod; a stick; a staff. [Obsolete] — P. Plowman
If men smote it with a yerde. — Chaucer
2.
A branch; a twig. [Obsolete]
The bitter frosts with the sleet and rain Destroyed hath the green in every yerd. — Chaucer
3.
A long piece of timber, as a rafter, etc. [Obsolete]
4.
A measure of length, equaling three feet, or thirty-six inches, being the standard of English and American measure.
5.
The penis.
6.
(Nautical) A long piece of timber, nearly cylindrical, tapering toward the ends, and designed to support and extend a square sail. A yard is usually hung by the center to the mast. See Illust. of Ship.
7.
(Zoology) A place where moose or deer herd together in winter for pasture, protection, etc.
Collocations (2)
Golden Yard or Yard and Ell (Astronomy) , a popular name of the three stars in the belt of Orion.
Under yard , under contract. [Obsolete] — Chaucer

Yard , noun

[Old English yard, yerd, Anglo-Saxon geard; akin to OFries. garda garden, Old Saxon gardo garden, gard yard, Dutch gaard garden, German garten, Old High German garto garden, gari inclosure, Icelandic garer yard, house, Swedish gård, Danish gaard, Gothic gards a house, garda sheepfold, Latin hortus garden, Greek cho`rtos an inclosure. Compare Court, Garden, Garth, Horticulture, Orchard.]

1.
An inclosure; usually, a small inclosed place in front of, or around, a house or barn; as, a courtyard; a cowyard; a barnyard.
A yard... inclosed all about with sticks In which she had a cock, hight chanticleer. — Chaucer
2.
An inclosure within which any work or business is carried on; as, a dockyard; a shipyard.
Collocations (4)
Liberty of the yard , a liberty, granted to persons imprisoned for debt, of walking in the yard, or within any other limits prescribed by law, on their giving bond not to go beyond those limits.
Prison yard , an inclosure about a prison, or attached to it.
Yard grass (Botany) , a low-growing grass (Eleusine Indica) having digitate spikes. It is common in dooryards, and like places, especially in the Southern United States. Called also crab grass.
Yard of land , See Yardland.

Yard , transitive verb

To confine (cattle) to the yard; to shut up, or keep, in a yard; as, to yard cows.