ranch

Everyday

1. A very large farm, especially in the USA, Canada or Australia, where cattle, horses or sheep are raised. tree →
2. (verb) To run a ranch or raise animals on one. tree →
3. «Ranch dressing» (US) is a creamy salad dressing; a «ranch house» is a long one-storey house. tree →

In the lessons

In stories and films about the American West, cowboys work on ranches. In geography, ranches cover huge areas of grassland. In maths, ranch problems count cattle, legs, fences and acres: «A ranch has 40 horses and 25 cows». Phrases: «cattle ranch», «on the ranch», «ranch hand», «ranch dressing».

Examples

• My cousin lives on a cattle ranch in Texas. tree →
• The ranch has 120 cows and 30 horses. tree →
• A ranch hand fixed the fence. tree →
• Dad likes ranch dressing on his salad. tree →
• They ranch sheep in the outback. tree →
• How many legs do 12 horses on the ranch have? tree →
• We rode horses on a ranch during the holidays. tree →

Note

Plural: ranches (add -es after ch). A person: rancher. In Australia a very large farm is called a station. In leg problems, horses and cows have 4 legs each.