ranch

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
ranch/rɑːntʃ/

▶noun

• 1 a large farm, especially in the western US and Canada, where cattle or other animals are bred.

• 2 (also ranch house) N. Amer. a single-storey house.

• 3 (also ranch dressing) N. Amer. a type of thick white salad dressing made with sour cream.

▶verb run a ranch.

■ breed (animals) on a ranch.

■ use (land) as a ranch.

– derivatives
rancher noun,
ranching noun.

– origin C19: from Sp. rancho ‘group of persons eating together’.