From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishyardyard /jɑːd $ jɑːrd/ ●●● S2 W2 noun [countable] 1 measure (written abbreviation yd)TM a unit for measuring length, equal to three feet or 0.91 metres a hundred yards away an area of 9,000 square yards2 enclosed areaTBAREA an enclosed area next to a building or group of buildings, used for a special purpose, activity, or business a builder’s yard a timber yardprison/school yard (=an area outside a prison or school where prisoners or students do activities outdoors)3 garden American EnglishDLG the area around a house, usually covered with grass SYN garden British Englishfront/back yard The kids were playing in the back yard.4 back of house British EnglishDH an enclosed area without grass at the back of a small house → backyard
Examples from the Corpus
yard• This week Woosnam was averaging 288 yards with his driver, Parry 257.• He was framed in a window less than a yard away.• A yard that went on for ever.• People who know her say she has a sense of the world beyond her own sizable back yard.• a prison exercise yard• He punted the few yards to the shore.• I saw nothing of the scenery; visibility was down to fifty yards.• Lost Jaguar and butterflies Next door, Steve Fischer waded through his front yard.• The ship will be moved to the Philadelphia Naval Yard next year.• The ball landed in the neighbors' yard.• Ten yards to go and he heard the driver of the Discovery accelerate away from the roadblock.square yards• The cemetery, which contains graves of men, women and children, covers about 15,000 square yards.• A daunting task lay ahead, as the spoil heaps covered an area of about 300 square yards.• I found where they had bedded down as a group, within about 50 square yards.• Sadler's used 1,900 square yards - made more impervious to the gas by an inner coat of rubber.• All you have to do is give up a few square yards of lawn space.• So four hundred square yards became an everyday world.• Crumbling bollards sprouted from the broken pavement that surrounded several hundred square yards of murky water; warehouses hemmed in the dock.• A few varieties of supple-stemmed rambler are just as suitable for this purpose, covering many square yards once they become established.prison/school yard• In a moment, a wave must have swept across the prison yard outside.• Now, on a bright September morning, the sun shone warmly on the terrible little group that crossed the prison yard.• Gandhi lay on a white cot in the prison yard under a spreading mango tree.• Every day the Civil War got replayed in the school yard, and I kept losing.• He felt it most strongly in the prison yard, near the hanging-shed.• Prentice got out of his Escort and locked it, then pointed to the gates of the school yard.• After breakfast the male inmates went outside to the prison yard for exercises, which included jumping over long bamboo sticks.• C., recently threw a football past their school yard fence and into the street.front/back yard• Even when I was a toddler, a pick-your-own trip to her back yard was the highlight of any visit.• Tyros get kick-started by taking shoeless jaunts around their house, back yard and neighborhood before hitting the trail.• The ceaseless deluge had turned the small front yard of the cottage into a swamp.• I prefer to be in the front yard.• The three adults seemed to be catapulted from their seats as they ran out into the back yard.• It was cool and fresh in the summer, the back yard blooming with wallflowers and purple bells.• But camped out in their front yard, so to speak, we suddenly felt very exposed.• I shall never never never forget your back yard, planetarium and ham radio shed.Yard, thethe YardYard, the an informal name for Scotland YardFrom Longman Business Dictionaryyardyard /jɑːdjɑːrd/ noun [countable]1 written abbreviation yd. a unit for measuring length, equal to 3 feet or 0.9144 metres2PROPERTYan enclosed area next to a building or group of buildings, used for a special purpose, activity, or businessTheir house is next to a builder’s yard.a timber yard → see also stockyardOrigin yard 1. Old English geard, gierd “stick”2. Old English geard “enclosed area” 