landmark
Americannoun
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a prominent or conspicuous object on land that serves as a guide, especially to ships at sea or to travelers on a road; a distinguishing landscape feature marking a site or location.
The post office served as a landmark for locating the street to turn down.
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something used to mark the boundary of land.
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a building or other place that is of outstanding historical, aesthetic, or cultural importance, often declared as such and given a special status landmark designation, ordaining its preservation, by some authorizing organization.
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a significant or historic event, juncture, achievement, etc..
The court decision stands as a landmark in constitutional law.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a prominent or well-known object in or feature of a particular landscape
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an important or unique decision, event, fact, discovery, etc
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a boundary marker or signpost
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of landmark
before 1000; Middle English; Old English landmearc. See land, mark 1
Explanation
A landmark is anything that helps you know where you are — in space, in time, in history. If you’re sailing from Europe to New York, the Statue of Liberty will be the landmark that lets you know you’re in the right port. If you’re walking to your cousin’s house, the pizza shop on the corner is the landmark that lets you know you just have two blocks to go. Getting your driver’s license is a landmark event, as was the Revolutionary War — though which battle was harder is yours to determine.
Vocabulary lists containing landmark
50th Anniversary of the March on Washington: "Trying to Inspire a New Generation" by Trip Gabriel
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Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 15–January 21, 2022
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It also features the building's landmark dome as well as the iconic signs which once adorned its roof.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
LACMA’s campus, once filled with commotion, is now solely focused on a rehearsal for the U.S. premiere of a region-wide series of free public performances in landmark L.A. spaces called “City of Dance.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2026
“A major landmark and historic treasure was being treated like an extreme fixer-upper on HGTV’s ‘Property Brothers,’” she writes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026
The landmark agreement aims to help Germany reduce its reliance on Russian gas, while allowing Canada to increase its energy exports beyond the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Our house was like a landmark: People knew to look for the big yellow house with the green roof.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
