Meaning & use
homestead
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Meanings
nouncountable
A house with the land and buildings around it, especially a farm.
Grammar: Countable: a homestead, the homestead, homesteads.
Patterns
- a family homestead
- on the homestead
They live on a small homestead in the countryside.
The old homestead has been in the family for generations.
He built a cabin on his homestead.
nouncountableAmerican
In US history, land given by the government to someone who agreed to farm it.
Grammar: Often used in historical contexts: a homestead claim, the Homestead Act.
Patterns
- claim a homestead
- a homestead act
Under the Homestead Act, settlers could claim 160 acres of public land.
Many families moved west to start a homestead.
The museum preserves an original homestead from the 1800s.
Word forms
| plural | homesteads |
|---|
Common combinations
- family homestead
- The family homestead is now a historic site.
- homestead act
- The Homestead Act encouraged westward expansion.
- homestead claim
- He filed a homestead claim on the prairie.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- homesteader noun
- A person who lives on and works a homestead.
Practice
The government gave free land to anyone who would farm it under the ______ Act.
Choose one answer.
The correct name is the Homestead Act. 'Homesteade' and 'Homested' are misspellings, and 'Homesteading' is a gerund, not the name of the act.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “homestead”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.