dirt yard

English

Alternative forms

• dirtyard

Noun

dirt yard (plural dirt yards)

1. (chiefly US) An unpaved yard that is kept free of grass and other vegetation.
   • 1943, Eudora Welty, “Livvie”, in The Wide Net and Other Stories‎^[1], New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., page 156:

     Out front was a clean dirt yard with every vestige of grass patiently uprooted and the ground scarred in deep whorls from the strike of Livvie’s broom.

   • 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 5, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‎^[2], New York: Bantam, published 1971, page 23:

     One summer morning, after I had swept the dirt yard of leaves, spearmint-gum wrappers and Vienna-sausage labels, I raked the yellow-red dirt, and made half-moons carefully, so that the design stood out clearly and mask-like.

   • 1987, Patricia Jones-Jackson, chapter 1, in When Roots Die: Endangered Traditions on the Sea Islands‎^[3], Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, page 8:

     Maintaining a communal dirt yard was once routine for black families in the South, and it is also traditional in most West African villages.

   • 2002, Gary Shteyngart, chapter 35, in The Russian Debutante’s Handbook‎^[4], New York: Riverhead Books, page 419:

     Outside, the familiar darkness disturbed by smog and the distant grumble of dysfunctional Trabants, an empty dirtyard facing the rump of a low, gray municipal building, the only illumination provided by the light trailing from the bar’s open door.