barn

barn
    n 1: an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed
         and housing farm animals
    2: (physics) a unit of nuclear cross section; the effective
       circular area that one particle presents to another as a
       target for an encounter [syn: {barn}, {b}]
    

Barn \Barn\ (b[aum]rn), n. [OE. bern, AS. berern, bern; bere
   barley + ern, [ae]rn, a close place. [root]92. See {Barley}.]
   A covered building used chiefly for storing grain, hay, and
   other productions of a farm. In the United States a part of
   the barn is often used for stables.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Barn owl} (Zool.), an owl of Europe and America ({Aluco
      flammeus}, or {Strix flammea}), which frequents barns and
      other buildings.

   {Barn swallow} (Zool.), the common American swallow ({Hirundo
      horreorum}), which attaches its nest of mud to the beams
      and rafters of barns.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Barn \Barn\, v. t.
   To lay up in a barn. [Obs.] --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

         Men . . . often barn up the chaff, and burn up the
         grain.                                   --Fuller.
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Barn \Barn\, n.
   A child. See {Bairn}. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]
    

barn
 n.

   [uncommon; prob. from the nuclear military] An unexpectedly large
   quantity of something: a unit of measurement. "Why is /var/adm taking
   up so much space?" "The logs have grown to several barns." The source
   of this is clear: when physicists were first studying nuclear
   interactions, the probability was thought to be proportional to the
   cross-sectional area of the nucleus (this probability is still called
   the cross-section). Upon experimenting, they discovered the
   interactions were far more probable than expected; the nuclei were "as
   big as a barn". The units for cross-sections were christened Barns,
   (10^-24 cm^2) and the book containing cross-sections has a picture of
   a barn on the cover.
    

Barn
a storehouse (Deut. 28:8; Job 39:12; Hag. 2:19) for grain, which
was usually under ground, although also sometimes above ground
(Luke 12:18).
    

BARN, estates. A building on a farm used to receive the crop, the stabling 
of animals, and other purposes. 
     2. The grant or demise of a barn, without words superadded to extend 
its meaning, would pass no more than the barn itself, and as much land as 
would be necessary for its complete enjoyment. 4 Serg. & Rawle, 342.