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a common unit of linear measure in english-speaking countries, equal to 3 feet or 36 inches, and equivalent to 0.9144 meter.
nautical. a long spar, supported more or less at its center, to which the head of a square sail, lateen sail, or lugsail is bent.
yard-of-ale.
informal. a large quant-ty or extent.
slang. one hundred or, usually, one thousand dollars.
the whole nine yards, informal.

everything that is pertinent, appropriate, or available.
in all ways; in every respect; all the way:
if you want to run for mayor, i’ll be with you the whole nine yards.

the ground that immediately adjoins or surrounds a house, public building, or other structure.
an enclosed area outdoors, often paved and surrounded by or adjacent to a building; court.
an outdoor enclosure designed for the exercise of students, inmates, etc.:
a prison yard.
an outdoor sp-ce surrounded by a group of buildings, as on a college campus.
a pen or other enclosure for livestock.
an enclosure within which any work or business is carried on (often used in combination):
navy yard; a brickyard.
an outside area used for storage, -ssembly, or the like.
railroads. a system of parallel tracks, crossovers, switches, etc., where cars are switched and made up into trains and where cars, locomotives, and other rolling stock are kept when not in use or when awaiting repairs.
a piece of ground set aside for cultivation; garden; field.
the winter pasture or browsing ground of moose and deer.
the yard, british, scotland yard (def 2).
to put into, enclose, or store in a yard.
contemporary examples

shouldn’t we be able to vote without long lines? megan mcardle november 5, 2012
the perfect use for deadly weapons chad ward july 20, 2009
ty carter awarded medal of honor david eisler, jake tapper august 30, 2013
inside the gaddafis’ lair babak dehghanpisheh august 24, 2011
the nfl is full of ray rices robert silverman september 8, 2014

historical examples

scientific american supplement, no. 417 various
a prisoner of morro upton sinclair
the land of the long night paul du chaillu
the world peril of 1910 george griffith
ernest bracebridge william h. g. kingston

noun
a unit of length equal to 3 feet and defined in 1963 as exactly 0.9144 metre yd
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
short for yardstick (sense 2)
(austral, informal) put in the hard yards, to make a great effort to achieve an end
(informal) the whole nine yards, everything that is required; the whole thing
noun
a piece of enclosed ground, usually either paved or laid with concrete and often adjoining or surrounded by a building or buildings

an enclosed or open area used for some commercial activity, for storage, etc: a railway yard
(in combination): a brickyard, a shipyard

a us and canadian word for garden (sense 1)
an area having a network of railway tracks and sidings, used for storing rolling stock, making up trains, etc
(us & canadian) the winter pasture of deer, moose, and similar animals
(austral & nz) an enclosed area used to draw off part of a herd, etc
(nz) short for saleyard, stockyard
verb (transitive)
to draft (animals), esp to a saleyard
noun
(brit, informal) the yard, short for scotland yard
n.
yard
(yärd)
a unit of length in the us customary system equal to 3 feet or 36 inches (0.91 meter). see table at measurement.

a convict (1956+)
a recruit; a asi trainee (wwii armed forces)
a soldier who because of inept-tude or misdemeanor is confined to a certain area, and often ordered to keep it clean and neat (wwii armed forces)

see:

all wool and a yard wide
in one’s own back yard
whole nine yards