farm out

verb

farmed out; farming out; farms out

transitive verb

1
: to turn over for performance by another usually under contract
farm out a job
2
a
: to put (someone, such as a child) into the hands of another for care
b
: to send (an athlete, such as a baseball player) to a farm team
3
: to exhaust (land) by farming especially by continuously raising one crop

Examples of farm out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The demand, even if lessened, will still warrant offering larger sizes, but some marquee names now want to farm out their plus-sized clothing to outside vendors instead of making their own label. Kevin Williams, CNBC, 12 Sep. 2025 That could reduce availability and raise the price of some coffee types and put farms out of business. Paul Mwebaze, The Conversation, 2 Sep. 2025 The agency farmed out some duties to contractor operations such as the famed Pony Express, whose riders delivered mail on horseback from Missouri to California from 1860-61. Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 23 July 2025 He had just been toughened up by an impressive 12-goal season on loan with leading Scottish side Rangers from German giants Bayern Munich, but the then 21-year-old could still be quiet, boyish and tongue-tied with journalists when he was farmed out again that summer to the Dutch club. Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 12 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for farm out

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1593, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of farm out was circa 1593

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Cite this Entry

“Farm out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/farm%20out. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.

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