yard (redirected from Yard (unit of length))

yard, abbr. yd, basic unit of length in the customary system of English units of measurement; all other units in the English system, such as the inch, foot, rod, and mile, are derived from it. Since 1893 the yard has been defined in terms of the meter, the basic unit of length in the metric system. For a long time the yard was held to equal 3600/3937 of a meter; it has since been recalculated so that 1 yd equals 0.9144 m. In the United States results of geodetic surveys are still expressed in feet based on the former definition of the yard; this is known as the U.S. Survey Foot, defined as 1200/3937 of a meter.

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yard

Unit of length equal to 36 inches, or 3 feet (see foot), in the U.S. Customary System or 0.9144 metre in the International System of Units. A cloth yard, used to measure cloth, is 37 in. long; it was also the standard length for arrows. In casual speech, a yard (e.g., of concrete, gravel, or topsoil) may refer to a cubic yard.

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yard¹

1. a unit of length equal to 3 feet and defined in 1963 as exactly 0.9144 metre

2. a cylindrical wooden or hollow metal spar, tapered at the ends, slung from a mast of a square-rigged or lateen-rigged vessel and used for suspending a sail

3. short for yardstick

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yard²

1. an enclosed or open area used for some commercial activity, for storage, etc.

2. a US and Canadian word for garden

3. an area having a network of railway tracks and sidings, used for storing rolling stock, making up trains, etc.

4. US and Canadian the winter pasture of deer, moose, and similar animals

5. NZ short for saleyard, stockyard

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yard [yärd]

(civil engineering)

A facility for building and repairing ships.

(mechanics)

A unit of length in common use in the United States and United Kingdom, equal to 0.9144 meter, or 3 feet. Abbreviated yd.

(naval architecture)

A long spar, tapered at the ends, attached at its middle to a mast and running athwartships, and used to support a sail.