a person who operates or manages a farm a person who obtains the right to collect and retain a tax, rent, etc, or operate a franchise for a specified period on payment of a fee
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
farm /fɑrm/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Agriculturea tract of land, usually with a house, barn, silo, etc., on which crops and often live animals are raised.
- Agricultureland or water devoted to the raising of animals, fish, plants, etc.
v.
- to cultivate land or soil to grow things: [no object]The peasants have been farming on this land for many generations.[~ + object]peasants farming the land.
- farm out, [~ + out + object]
- to assign or send out (work) to another, esp. to a smaller business:The company would farm out its smaller projects to reduce the time its own employees spent on minor work.
farm•er
(fär′mər),USA pronunciation n.
farm′er•like′, adj.
Far•mer (fär′mər),USA pronunciation n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Agriculturea person who farms;
person who operates a farm or cultivates land. - an unsophisticated person from a rural area;
yokel. - a person who undertakes some service, as the care of children or the poor, at a fixed price.
- a person who undertakes the collection of taxes, duties, etc., paying a fixed sum for the privilege of retaining them.
- [Cards.]
- a variety of twenty-one played with a 45-card pack, the object being to obtain cards having a total worth of 16.
- the dealer in this game.
- Anglo-French; Old French fermier collector of revenue. See farm, -er2
- Middle English fermer 1350–1400
Far•mer (fär′mər),USA pronunciation n.
- Biographical James (Leonard), born 1920, U.S. civil-rights leader.
farm
(färm),USA pronunciation n.
v.t.
v.i.
farm′a•ble, adj.
- Agriculturea tract of land, usually with a house, barn, silo, etc., on which crops and often livestock are raised for livelihood.
- Agricultureland or water devoted to the raising of animals, fish, plants, etc.:a pig farm;an oyster farm;a tree farm.
- a similar, usually commercial, site where a product is manufactured or cultivated:a cheese farm; a honey farm.
- the system, method, or act of collecting revenue by leasing a territory in districts.
- a country or district leased for the collection of revenue.
- a fixed yearly amount accepted from a person in view of local or district taxes that he or she is authorized to collect.
- a tract of land on which an industrial function is carried out, as the drilling or storage of oil or the generation of electricity by solar power.
- World History[Eng. Hist.]
- the rent or income from leased property.
- the condition of being leased at a fixed rent;
possession under lease;
a lease.
- SportAlso called farm team, farm′ club′. [Chiefly Baseball.]a team in a minor league that is owned by or affiliated with a major-league team, for training or keeping players until ready or needed.
- [Obs.]a fixed yearly amount payable in the form of rent, taxes, or the like.
- buy the farm, [Slang.]to die or be killed.
v.t.
- to cultivate (land).
- to take the proceeds or profits of (a tax, undertaking, etc.) on paying a fixed sum.
- to let or lease (taxes, revenues, an enterprise, etc.) to another for a fixed sum or a percentage (often fol. by out).
- to let or lease the labor or services of (a person) for hire.
- to contract for the maintenance of (a person, institution, etc.):a county that farms its poor.
v.i.
- Agricultureto cultivate the soil;
operate a farm. - farm out:
- to assign (work, privileges, or the like) to another by financial agreement;
subcontract;
lease:The busy shipyard farmed out two construction jobs to a smaller yard. - to assign the care of (a child or dependent person) to another:She farms her elderly aunt out to a retired nurse during the workweek.
- Sport[Chiefly Baseball.]to assign (a player) to a farm.
- to exhaust (farmland) by overcropping.
- to drill (oil or gas wells), esp. by subcontract on land owned or leased by another.
- to assign (work, privileges, or the like) to another by financial agreement;
- Vulgar Latin *ferma, derivative of *fermāre, for Latin firmāre to make firm, confirm. See firm1
- Anglo-French, Old French
- Middle English ferme lease, rented land, rent 1250–1300
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
John. ?1565–1605, English madrigal composer and organist
'small farmer' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):