pasture

¹

[pas-cher, pahs-]

noun

1. Also called pastureland. an area covered with grass or other plants used or suitable for the grazing of livestock; grassland.

2. a specific area or piece of such ground.

3. grass or other plants for feeding livestock.

verb (used with object)

pastured, pasturing 

1. to feed (livestock) by putting them out to graze on pasture.

2. (of land) to furnish with pasture.

3. (of livestock) to graze upon.

verb (used without object)

pastured, pasturing 

1. (of livestock) to graze in a pasture.

Pasture

²

[pah-tyr]

noun

1. Rogier or Roger de la Weyden, Rogier van der.

pasture

/ ˈpɑːstʃə /

noun

1. land covered with grass or herbage and grazed by or suitable for grazing by livestock

2. a specific tract of such land

3. the grass or herbage growing on it

verb

1. (tr) to cause (livestock) to graze or (of livestock) to graze (a pasture)

Other Word Forms

• pastural adjective
• pastureless adjective
• pasturer noun
• unpastured adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pasture¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Middle French < Late Latin pāstūra, equivalent to Latin pāst ( us ), past participle of pāscere to feed, pasture ( pastor ) + -ūra -ure

Word History and Origins

Origin of pasture¹

C13: via Old French from Late Latin pāstūra, from pascere to feed

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. put out to pasture,

   1. to put in a pasture to graze.

   2. to dismiss, retire, or use sparingly as being past one's or its prime.

      Most of our older employees don't want to be put out to pasture.

see put out to grass (pasture).

Example Sentences

The following season, Teixeira spoke highly of the Angels despite leaving Anaheim for the greener pastures of New York.

From Los Angeles Times

They are restoring a natural wildlife-rich habitat made up of open grasslands populated with ancient trees, known as wood pasture.

From BBC

Now the fights ended without violence — with the bull lassoed and returned to pasture.

From Los Angeles Times

The colt was born while Hunter was driving home for a short break before fall camp, its spindly legs still wobbly in the pasture.

From Los Angeles Times

Over the last decade, California has watched a steady stream of businesses — from tech giants to logistics firms — pack up and head for redder pastures.

From Salon

Related Words

• grass 
• grazing 
• meadow