The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Yard \Yard\, n. [OE. yard, yerd, AS. geard; akin to OFries.
   garda garden, OS. gardo garden, gard yard, D. gaard garden,
   G. garten, OHG. garto garden, gari inclosure, Icel. gar[eth]r
   yard, house, Sw. g[*a]rd, Dan. gaard, Goth. gards a house,
   garda sheepfold, L. hortus garden, Gr. cho`rtos an inclosure.
   Cf. Court, Garden, Garth, Horticulture, Orchard.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. An inclosure; usually, a small inclosed place in front of,
      or around, a house or barn; as, a courtyard; a cowyard; a
      barnyard.
      [1913 Webster]

            A yard . . . inclosed all about with sticks
            In which she had a cock, hight chanticleer.
                                                  --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. An inclosure within which any work or business is carried
      on; as, a dockyard; a shipyard.
      [1913 Webster]

   Liberty of the yard, a liberty, granted to persons
      imprisoned for debt, of walking in the yard, or within any
      other limits prescribed by law, on their giving bond not
      to go beyond those limits.

   Prison yard, an inclosure about a prison, or attached to
      it.

   Yard grass (Bot.), a low-growing grass (Eleusine Indica)
      having digitate spikes. It is common in dooryards, and
      like places, especially in the Southern United States.
      Called also crab grass.

   Yard of land. See Yardland.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Yard \Yard\, n. [OE. yerd, AS. gierd, gyrd, a rod, stick, a
   measure, a yard; akin to OFries. ierde, OS. gerda, D. garde,
   G. gerte, OHG. gartia, gerta, gart, Icel. gaddr a goad,
   sting, Goth. gazds, and probably to L. hasta a spear. Cf.
   Gad, n., Gird, n., Gride, v. i., Hastate.]
   1. A rod; a stick; a staff. [Obs.] --P. Plowman.
      [1913 Webster]

            If men smote it with a yerde.         --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A branch; a twig. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            The bitter frosts with the sleet and rain
            Destroyed hath the green in every yerd. --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A long piece of timber, as a rafter, etc. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A measure of length, equaling three feet, or thirty-six
      inches, being the standard of English and American
      measure.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. The penis.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Naut.) A long piece of timber, nearly cylindrical,
      tapering toward the ends, and designed to support and
      extend a square sail. A yard is usually hung by the center
      to the mast. See Illust. of Ship.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. (Zool.) A place where moose or deer herd together in
      winter for pasture, protection, etc.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   Golden Yard, or Yard and Ell (Astron.), a popular name of
      the three stars in the belt of Orion.

   Under yard [i. e., under the rod], under contract. [Obs.]
      --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Yard \Yard\, v. t.
   To confine (cattle) to the yard; to shut up, or keep, in a
   yard; as, to yard cows.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

yard
    n 1: a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44
         centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a
         stride [syn: yard, pace]
    2: the enclosed land around a house or other building; "it was a
       small house with almost no yard" [syn: yard, grounds,
       curtilage]
    3: a tract of land enclosed for particular activities (sometimes
       paved and usually associated with buildings); "they opened a
       repair yard on the edge of town"
    4: the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100 [syn:
       thousand, one thousand, 1000, M, K, chiliad, G,
       grand, thou, yard]
    5: a unit of volume (as for sand or gravel) [syn: cubic yard,
       yard]
    6: a tract of land where logs are accumulated
    7: an area having a network of railway tracks and sidings for
       storage and maintenance of cars and engines [syn: yard,
       railway yard, railyard]
    8: a long horizontal spar tapered at the end and used to support
       and spread a square sail or lateen
    9: an enclosure for animals (as chicken or livestock)

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

186 Moby Thesaurus words for "yard":
   C, C-note, G, G-note, M, arena, armory, arsenal, assembly line,
   assembly plant, atomic energy plant, beleaguer, beset, besiege,
   bindery, blockade, boatyard, boilery, bookbindery, bound, box in,
   brewery, brickyard, buck, cage, cannery, cartwheel, cent, century,
   chamber, chiliad, chiliagon, chiliahedron, chiliarch, chiliarchia,
   cincture, close, close in, compass, confine, contain, container,
   coop, coop in, coop up, copper, cordon, cordon off, corral, court,
   courtyard, creamery, curtilage, dairy, defense plant,
   delimited field, dime, distillery, dockyard, dollar, dollar bill,
   encircle, enclave, enclose, enclosure, encompass, enshrine,
   factory, factory belt, factory district, feeder plant, fence in,
   field, fifty cents, fin, fish, five cents, five hundred dollars,
   five-dollar bill, five-hundred-dollar bill, five-spot, fiver,
   flour mill, fold, four bits, frogskin, grand, ground, half G,
   half a C, half dollar, half grand, hedge in, hem in, house in,
   hundred-dollar bill, impound, imprison, incarcerate, include,
   industrial park, industrial zone, iron man, jail, kennel, kilo,
   kilocycle, kilogram, kilohertz, kiloliter, kilometer, lakh,
   leaguer, list, main plant, manufactory, manufacturing plant,
   manufacturing quarter, mew, mew up, mill, millennium, millepede,
   milligram, milliliter, mint, munitions plant, myriad, nickel,
   oil refinery, one hundred thousand, packing house, pale, paling,
   park, pen, pen in, penny, plant, pocket, pottery, power plant,
   production line, push-button plant, quad, quadrangle, quarantine,
   quarter, rail in, red cent, refinery, sawbuck, sawmill, shipyard,
   shrine, shut in, shut up, silver dollar, skin, smacker, square,
   stable, subassembly plant, sugar refinery, surround, tannery,
   ten cents, ten thousand, ten-spot, tenner, theater, thou, thousand,
   thousand dollars, thousand-dollar bill, toft, twenty-dollar bill,
   twenty-five cents, two bits, two-dollar bill, two-spot, wall in,
   winery, wrap, yard up, yards



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

YARD. A measure of length, containing three feet, or thirty-six inches.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

YARD, estates. A piece of land enclosed for the use and accommodation of the
inhabitants of a house. In England it is nearly synonymous with backside.
(q.v.) 1 Chitty, Pr. 176; 1 T. R. 701.