Backyard

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /bækˈjɑː(ɹ)d/

Alternative forms

• back-yard, back yard

Full definition of backyard

Noun

1. A yard to the rear of a house or similar residence.
2. (colloquial) A person's neighborhood, or an area nearby to a person's usual residence or place of work and where the person is likely to go.
• 2005, Christopher Kennedy Lawford, Symptoms of withdrawal: a memoir of snapshots and redemption, The entire beach was my backyard, from the Hiltons' house in the south all the way to Steele Hunter's house in the north.
3. (colloquial) An area nearby to a country or other jurisidiction's legal boundaries, particularly an area in which the country feels it has an interest.
• 1942, Wilfrid Hardy Callcott, The Caribbean policy of the United States, 1890-1920, However, the region was in the United States backyard and Britain should look passively on with acquiescence in whatever policy the United States saw fit to pursue about Mexico.

Related terms

• front yard

Usage notes

Note that backyard is usually written as a single word, while front yard is always written as two words.

Derived terms

• backyard cricket
• not in my backyard (NIMBY)