See Also: YARD(law)
yard(dictionary)
Yard, the(dictionary)
yard(encyclopedia)
yard-arm(dictionary)
yard(4)(dictionary)
yard(3)(dictionary)
yard(2)(dictionary)
yard(1)(dictionary)
YARD(finance)

yard(2) (iou)



yard noun2. [jɑ:d]

I.
Nautical. A long spar (usually cylindrical and tapering to each end) slung at its centre from and forward of a mast for a square sail to hang from. OE.
jackyard, main-yard, mizzen yard, spritsail yard, etc.
A straight slender shoot or branch of a tree; a twig. OE-LME.
A staff, a stick, a rod; spec. (a) a shepherd's walking-stick; (b) a rod used for administering punishment; fig. punishment, chastisement; (c) a rod, wand, or staff carried as a symbol of authority or office; (d) a rod or stick three feet long, used for measuring. Long rare or obsolete OE.
II. Measure.
a. In full yard of land. = YARDLAND 1. OE-E17.
b. A former measure of area for land, equal to a quarter of an acre. Cf. ROOD noun 5a. Now rare or obsolete. LME.
A unit of linear measure equal to 16 1 / 2 feet (5.0292 m) but varying locally. Also land-yard. Now rare. OE.
The traditional English unit of length and distance, divided into three feet and 36 inches, and formerly defined legally by means of a metal bar or rod and now as 0.9144 metre exactly; a quantity of fabric etc. of this length. OE.
Law Times The railway line..was perfectly straight for a distance of over 700 yards. Yankee She bought a few yards of quilted fabric.
b. A great length or amount. Usu. in pl. LME.
H. James He had a face a yard long; I wondered what ailed him. Listener We have heard anti-Wagnerian criticism beforeacademic traditionalists wrote yards of it.
c. A square or cubic yard of something; spec. (Building) a cubic yard of sand. M19.
III.
The penis. Now coarse slang. LME.
One hundred dollars; a bill for this amount. US slang. E20.
Phrases: all wool and a yard wide: see WOOL noun 2. by the yard fig. at great length; in vast quantities. cubic yard the volume equal to that of a cube with edges three feet in length. square yard the area equal to that of a square with sides three feet in length. yard of ale (the contents of) a deep slender beer glass about a yard long and holding two to three pints.
Comb.: yard-man noun2 (Nautical) a sailor occupied on specified yards; yard-measure a three-foot rod, bar, or tape for measuring; yard-rope Nautical (a) in pl., the permanent rigging of a yard; (b) a rope attached to a ship's yard; yardstick (a) a three-foot rod for measuring; (b) fig. a standard used for comparison; yard-wand (now rare or obsolete) = yardstick (a) above.
yardage noun2 (a) (now rare or obsolete) the cutting of coal at a fixed rate per yard; (b) an amount or distance measured in yards: L19.