Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
YARD
I. noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English geard enclosure, yard; akin to Old High German gart enclosure, Latin hortus garden Date: before 12th century
1. a small usually walled and often paved area open to the sky and adjacent to a building ; court , the grounds of a building or group of buildings, the grounds immediately surrounding a house that are usually covered with grass,
3. an enclosure for livestock (as poultry), b. an area with its buildings and facilities set aside for a particular business or activity, an assembly or storage area (as for dry-docked boats), a system of tracks for storage and maintenance of cars and making up trains, a locality in a forest where deer herd in winter,
II. adjective
Date: 15th century
of, relating to, or employed in the yard surrounding a building , of, relating to, or employed in a railroad yard ,
III. verb
Date: 1758
transitive verb to drive into or confine in a restricted area ; herd , pen , to deliver to or store in a yard, intransitive verb to congregate in or as if in a yard,
IV. noun
Etymology: Middle English yarde, from Old English gierd twig, measure, yard; akin to Old High German gart stick, Latin hasta spear Date: before 12th century any of various units of measure: as, a unit of length equal in the United States to 0.9144 meter, a unit of volume equal to a cubic yard,
2. a great length or quantity , one hundred dollars, a long spar tapered toward the ends to support and spread the head of a square sail, lateen, or lugsail, a slender horn-shaped glass about three feet tall