barn raising

noun

: a gathering for the purpose of erecting a barn compare bee entry 3

Examples of barn raising in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The work has the air of a barn raising. Quanta Magazine, 1 Oct. 2020 Created by artists Michelle Montjoy, Anna O’Cain and Siobhan Arnold, the exhibit is based in art history, the legacy of homespun craft, and the power of communal actions like barn raising and quilting bees. Laura Groch, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Dec. 2022 After Christmas, when the winter was deep and the crops were in, families would gather at a farm, as if for a barn raising, to butcher hogs, putting meat away in a smokehouse for the coming year. Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2022 Zumthor, in turn, called on them to come together as neighbors and build his design themselves, as in a latter-day barn raising. Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 21 Sep. 2020 Getting the building into shape required a modern-day barn raising. Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2019 What happened was akin to an old-fashioned barn raising where the farm community turned out in force to help one of their own in a time of need. Tom Hallman Jr., OregonLive.com, 8 Dec. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barn raising.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of barn raising was in 1845

Dictionary Entries Near barn raising

Cite this Entry

“Barn raising.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barn%20raising. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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