DCHP-1 Online

yard ((n.))

• 1a n. a browsing area where a group of moose or deer in winter tread down the snow, remaining there for protection and warmth until the fodder within easy reach is exhausted.

  See also: deer yard  moose-yard (def. 1)  ravage  yard ((v.)) (def. 1)  

  • 1828  . . . after much fatigue they reached the neighbourhood of the yard or beat of the moose-deer.
  • 1904  The deer and moose were in their well-trodden "yards," for the snow was deep.
  • 1964  They [moose] trample down "yards" in the snow, for cover and feed.

• 1b n. the moose or deer so grouped.

  • 1872  The yard consists of generally three or four animals. Cows and young bulls yard together, the old bulls alone [moose].

• 2 n. a place where musk-ox huddle together for warmth and protection.

  • 1899  I have friends on the Far Off River who show me the yards where musk-ox gather. . . .

• 3 † n. Lumbering an assembly point for logs, often at a brow (def. 1).

  See also: brow (def. 1)  yard ((v.)) (def. 2)  

  • 1943  The load is then dragged [by horse] over the trails swamped by the cutters to a rollway or a yard.
  • 1952  From the yard, logs are hauled by truck or rail to tide-water where they are dumped. In some instances, the yard may be at the water's edge and then the logs are rolled directly into the water.