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a common measure of area: in the U.S. and U.K., 1 acre equals 4,840 square yards (4,047 square meters) or 0.405 hectare; 640 acres equals one square mile.
acres.

lands; land:
wooded acres.
Informal. large quantities:
acres of Oriental rugs.

Archaic. a plowed or sown field.
a state in W Brazil. 58,900 sq. mi. (152,550 sq. km).
Capital: Rio Branco.
a seaport in NW Israel: besieged and captured by Crusaders 1191.
Contemporary Examples

Looking for a rec center with an acre of cardio and weight machines like the ones used at the Beijing Olympics?
The Real College Crisis Isn’t About Student Loan Rates Patricia Murphy July 10, 2013

His attempt to boost farm wages, called the Agricultural Adjustment Act, supposedly “plowed under” every fourth acre.
When America Said No to War Marc Wortman September 9, 2013

A video shows counselors calling for violent conquering of Jaffa and acre (Akko).
Propagandize For Israel And Get A Free Ride At College Orly Halpern August 12, 2013

In 1981, the average price of farmland in Iowa was $2,147 per acre; by 1986, the average farm brought $787 an acre.
Don’t Get Too Stressed About the Farm Bubble Justin Green March 31, 2013

Sometimes the great powers applauded; sometimes they condemned, but acre by acre, Jews seized control of their fate.
Israel’s Palestinian Arab Spring Peter Beinart May 15, 2011

Historical Examples

Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground.
Familiar Quotations John Bartlett

I think every acre of land suitable for garden or field cultivation is taken.
Her Father’s Daughter Gene Stratton-Porter

With regard to the word ‘acre,’ it is probably of very ancient origin.
The English Village Community Frederic Seebohm

It is a quiet spot, but without gloom, as befits “God’s acre.”
The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII) John Greenleaf Whittier

One acre, I giv’ to de Lawd for a graveyard an’ a churchhouse.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Work Projects Administration

noun
a unit of area used in certain English-speaking countries, equal to 4840 square yards or 4046.86 square metres
(pl)

land, esp a large area
(informal) a large amount: he has acres of space in his room

(NZ) farm the long acre, to graze cows on the verge of a road
noun
(ˈɑːkrə). a state of W Brazil: mostly unexplored tropical forests; acquired from Bolivia in 1903. Capital: Rio Branco. Pop: 586 942 (2002). Area: 152 589 sq km (58 899 sq miles)
(ˈeɪkə; ˈɑːkə). a city and port in N Israel, strategically situated on the Bay of Acre in the E Mediterranean: taken and retaken during the Crusades (1104, 1187, 1191, 1291), taken by the Turks (1517), by Egypt (1832), and by the Turks again (1839). Pop: 45 600 (2001) Old Testament name Accho (ɑːˈkəʊ) Arabic name `Akka (ɑːˈkɑː) Hebrew name `Akko (ɑːˈkəʊ)
n.

Old English æcer “tilled field, open land,” from Proto-Germanic *akraz “field, pasture” (cf. Old Norse akr, Old Saxon akkar, Old Frisian ekker, Middle Dutch acker, Dutch akker, Old High German achar, German acker, Gothic akrs), from PIE *agro- “field” (cf. Latin ager “field, land,” Greek agros, Sanskrit ajras “plain, open country”).

Originally in English without reference to dimension; in late Old English the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day, afterward defined by statute as a piece 40 poles by 4, or an equivalent shape (5 Edw. I, 31 Edw. III, 24 Hen. VIII). Original sense retained in God’s acre “churchyard.”
acre
(ā’kər)
A unit of area in the US Customary System, used in land and sea floor measurement and equal to 43,560 square feet or 4,047 square meters.

is the translation of a word (tse’med), which properly means a yoke, and denotes a space of ground that may be ploughed by a yoke of oxen in a day. It is about an acre of our measure (Isa. 5:10; 1 Sam. 14:14).