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back forty

The remote part of a farm.

Etymology:

  • back + forty, meaning “back side of a farm”. In the Homestead Acts, farmers were granted a quarter section; a section was 640 acres, a quarter section was 160 acres, and the quarter section was itself subdivided into four quarter-quarter sections of 40 acres each: two front forty and two back forty.
  • Compare back of beyond, backcountry, and backwater.
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“

They couldn't contact the farmer right away because he was out plowing the back forty

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Submitted on July 07, 2010

Additional definitions for 'back forty':

back fortyThe most remote or inaccessible part of any place.
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Translation

Find a translation for the back forty phrase in other languages:

cuarenta hectáreas de la parte trasera

retour quarante

задний сорок

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to back forty

back in the saddleback in the gameback in the gameanswer backback in harnessback at yaback at youback downback intoback awayback inback atchaanswer backback for more

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