backyard
/bakˈjɑːd
/noun
1British A yard at the back of a house or other building.The youngsters raided the backyards of houses, appropriating the ‘besoms’ or brooms usually kept there, and these they subsequently used as torches on Guy Fawkes Day, or rather, night....
- Corrugated huts house additional families in backyards and the shanty towns overflow with new arrivals.
- The backyards and high tech buildings may house refrigerator-sized fuel cells.
1.1North American A back garden.Bricks, logs and other materials have been recycled into a retaining wall to keep dirt from the basketball court and into backyards as borders for gardens, many of which boast impressive rose gardens....
- In the warm months, I enjoy watching the animals that are attracted to the flowers in my backyard.
- My mom grows hundreds of flowers in our backyard, and I helped plant most of them.
1.2 informal The area close to where one lives, regarded with proprietorial concern: children must be made aware of environmental issues in their own backyard...
- As such it's in our own backyard and close enough, for those who can afford it, to drive to.
- These same concerns are no where to be seen in our own backyard.
- If they cannot be open-minded and fair in their own backyard, they should be ignored in other areas as well.
