- (North American English) (British English garden)
a piece of land next to or around your house where you can grow flowers, fruit, vegetables, etc., usually with a lawn (= an area of grass) （住宅旁或周围的）园圃，花园，果园，菜园 
They have a gorgeous old oak tree in their front yard. 他们的前院里有一株非常漂亮的老橡树。 My next-door neighbor was watering her yard. 我的隔壁邻居在给她的花园浇水。
Culture gardens and yardsgardens and yardsMost British houses have gardens. The garden is surrounded by a fence or hedge and is a place where people can be outside and yet private.If a house has a front and back garden, the front is likely to be formal and decorative, with a lawn (= an area of grass) or paving and flower borders. Many front gardens in towns have been covered with a hard surface so that the owners can park their cars on them. The back garden usually also has a lawn and flower beds, and sometimes a vegetable plot or fruit trees. There may also be a patio or a deck for sitting at a table and chairs in the summer. There is often a bird table (= a raised platform on which food is put for birds) and a shed in which garden tools are kept.Many British people spend quite a lot of money on their gardens and even the smallest may contain a variety of flowers and shrubs. In spring some people fix window boxes containing bulbs or other plants on their windowsills, or attach a hanging basket on the wall near the front door.Some houses have only a very small paved back garden, called a courtyard. People often decorate it with plants in large tubs, or in pots or hanging baskets. In the US the area of grass in front of and behind most houses is called a yard. The word garden is used only for the areas where flowers and vegetables grow. Yards usually consist of a lawn and trees, flowers and bushes, with a deck or patio. In both Britain and the US many backyards have swings, slides or climbing frames for children. Garden decorations include bird feeders (= containers of food for birds) and lamps so that people can use the yard after dark.During warm weather, Americans spend a lot of time in their yards, especially the backyard. Children play there and often have small pools or sandboxes. People like to eat outside and prepare meals on a barbecue.For many British people gardening is a hobby and they are very proud of their gardens. Some towns and villages have competitions for the best-kept small garden. Keen gardeners may have a greenhouse in which to grow plants. People with a small garden, or no garden at all, can rent a piece of land, called an allotment, from the local council. Most people grow vegetables on their allotments.There are garden centres near most towns, selling everything a gardener might need, from flowerpots to ponds as well as a huge range of plants.Although a smaller percentage of Americans enjoy gardening, it is increasingly popular and many retired people garden. People work to make the yard a pleasant place to sit. Modern garden design, which sees the garden as additional living space, was developed in California.The British interest in gardening affects the appearance of whole towns. Public parks and traffic roundabouts often have bright displays of flowers in summer, and public buildings have window boxes and hanging baskets. Towns and villages enter for the annual Britain in Bloom competition.At weekends many British people like to visit famous gardens, such as that at Stowe near Banbury, developed by William Kent and 'Capability' Brown in the 18th century. Other popular attractions include Vita Sackville-West's gardens at Sissinghurst, and the garden and glasshouses of Kew Gardens (the Royal Botanic Gardens). Every summer the National Gardens Scheme publishes a list of private gardens belonging to enthusiastic gardeners which are open to the public on a particular day. Visitors like to look around and get ideas for their own gardens.In the US, parks and other public green spaces usually have paths for people to walk along, large areas of grass where children can play, and trees and flowers. There are some formal gardens in the US, and, as in Britain, many universities have botanical gardens which are used for research and teaching. Famous American gardens include Longwood in Pennsylvania and the Huntington Botanical Gardens in California.Extra ExamplesTopics Gardensb1He entered the yard through the back gate. 他从后门进入了院子。 I've landscaped my tiny front yard with tall grasses. 我用了一些高大的草来美化屋前的小花园。 Most of the yard was covered with leaves. 花园大部份地方都覆盖着树叶。 She was standing in the yard. 她正站在院子里。 The front yard is fenced for privacy. 房前的花园围上了围栏以获得私密性。 We crossed the yard to my house. 我们穿过花园来到我家。 the huge bay window overlooking the yard 能俯瞰花园的大飘窗 I had to cut the grass in the yard. 我得修剪院子里的草。 Two houses in the street had yard signs, one for Trump and one for Clinton. 街上有两栋房子有院子标志，一栋给特朗普，一栋给克林顿。 The outside yard was decorated with orange lights. 外边的花园装饰着橘黄色的灯。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- back
- front
- side
- …
- mow
- rake
- water
- …
- sale
- sign
- in yard
- the corner of the yard
- the edge of the yard
- the middle of the yard
- …
- (British English)
an area outside a building, usually with a hard surface and a surrounding wall 院子 The prisoners were made to line up in the prison yard. 囚犯们被要求在监狱院子里排队。 The children were playing in the yard at the front of the school. 孩子们在学校前面的空地上玩耍。
Extra ExamplesI left our school yard at recess and ran home. 课间休息时，我离开学校跑回了家。 The prisoners were taken to the exercise yard. 囚犯们被带到了放风场地。 The yard was enclosed by a high wire fence. 院子四周围着高高的铁丝网。 kids playing in the school yard 在学校操场玩耍的孩子们 They rode out of the stable yard. 他们骑马出了马厩院子。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- front
- back
- rear
- …
- enter
- leave
- enclose
- …
(usually in compounds 通常构成复合词 an area of land used for a special purpose or business （某种用途的）区域，场地 a boat yard 船坞
Synonyms factoryfactory- plant
- mill
- works
- yard
- workshop
- foundry
- factory a building or group of buildings where goods are made, mainly by machine:
a chocolate/cigarette/clothing factory 巧克力厂；香烟厂；制衣厂
- plant a factory or place where power is produced or an industrial process takes place:
a nuclear power plant 核电厂 a manufacturing plant 制造厂
- mill a factory that produces a particular type of material:
a cotton/paper/textile/woollen mill 棉纺厂；造纸厂；纺织厂；毛纺厂
- works (often in compounds) a place where things are made or an industrial process takes place:
a brickworks 砖厂 a steelworks 炼钢厂 Raw materials were carried to the works by barge. 原材料由驳船运到工厂。
- yard (usually in compounds) an area of land used for building something:
a shipyard 船坞
- workshop a room or building in which things are made or repaired using hand tools or machinery (usually individual items or small numbers of items):
a car repair workshop 汽车修理厂
- foundry a factory where metal or glass is melted and made into different shapes or objects:
an iron foundry 铸铁厂
- a car/chemical/munitions factory/plant
- an engineering plant/works
- to manage/run a factory/plant/mill/works/yard/workshop/foundry
- to work in/at a factory/plant/mill/yard/workshop/foundry
- factory/mill/foundry owners/managers/workers
Extra Examplesa construction yard 建筑工地 wood from a lumber yard 来自木料场的木头 The steam tug was on her way to the breaker's yard at the end of her naval service. 从海军退役后，这艘蒸汽拖轮被送往拆船厂。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- lumber
- timber
- freight
- …
- a builder’s yard
- the knacker’s yard
- (abbreviation yd)(in Britain and North America)
a unit for measuring length, equal to 3 feet (36 inches) or 0.9144 of a metre 码（长度单位，等于 3 英尺（36 英寸）或 0.9144 米） They still live within yards of each other. 他们仍然住在彼此几码之内。 a beautiful white dress with yards and yards of fabric 一件漂亮的白色连衣裙，有一圈又一圈布料 The accident happened less than 50 yards from his home. 事故发生在离他家不到50码的地方。
- (specialist)
a long piece of wood fastened to a mast that supports a sail on a boat or ship 桁；桅横杆 see also Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard, New Scotland Yard, Scotland Yard, The Yard
Word Originsenses 4 to 5 Old English gerd (in sense (5)), of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch gard ‘twig, rod’ and German Gerte.senses 1 to 3 Old English geard ‘building, home, region’, from a Germanic base related to Russian gorod ‘town’. Compare with garden and orchard.
Idioms
give somebody an inch (and they’ll take a mile/yard)
- (saying)
used to say that if you allow some people a small amount of freedom or power they will see you as weak and try to take a lot more 得寸进尺
the whole nine yards