garland
noun
a wreath or festoon of flowers, leaves, or other material, worn for ornament or as an honor or hung on something as a decoration.
garland
1 American
[gahr-luhnd]
/ ˈgɑr lənd /
noun
-
garlands
plural
-
a wreath or festoon of flowers, leaves, or other material, worn for ornament or as an honor or hung on something as a decoration.
A garland of laurel was placed on the winner's head.
-
a representation of such a wreath or festoon.
-
a collection of short literary pieces, as poems and ballads; literary miscellany.
-
Nautical. a band, collar, or grommet, as of rope.
verb (used with object)
-
garlands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
garlanded,
past participle, past
-
garlanding
present participle
Garland
2
American
[gahr-luhnd]
/ ˈgɑr lənd /
noun
-
Hamlin 1860–1940, U.S. novelist, short-story writer, and poet.
-
Judy Frances Gumm, 1922–69, U.S. singer and actress.
-
a city in NE Texas, near Dallas.
-
a male or female given name.
garland
1
British
/ ˈɡɑːlənd /
noun
-
a wreath or festoon of flowers, leaves, etc, worn round the head or neck or hung up
-
a representation of such a wreath, as in painting, sculpture, etc
-
a collection of short literary pieces, such as ballads or poems; miscellany or anthology
-
nautical a ring or grommet of rope
verb
Garland
2
British
/ ˈɡɑːlənd /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
garlandsimple
-
garlandssimple
-
have garlandedperfect
-
has garlandedperfect
-
am garlandingprogressive
-
are garlandingprogressive
-
is garlandingprogressive
-
have been garlandingperfect progressive
-
has been garlandingperfect progressive
Past
-
garlandedsimple
-
had garlandedperfect
-
was garlandingprogressive
-
were garlandingprogressive
-
had been garlandingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of garland
1275–1325; Middle English ger ( e ) lande, garlande < Old French < ?
Explanation
A garland is a circular arrangement of flowers, worn or hung for decoration. Think of the strings of pine and holly people hang at holiday time, or the ring of roses they put around the Kentucky Derby winner's neck. First recorded circa 1300, the word garland in the simplest terms means a circle of flowers or other greenery. Hawaiian leis are a type of garland, as are holiday wreaths and the little flower crowns that flower girls wear at weddings. If you want to get spiritual about garlands, you can refer back to this Buddha quote: "Fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds."
Vocabulary lists containing garland
Forged by Fire
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"To an Athlete Dying Young" by A. E. Housman
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 9
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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.
See Examples For:
Unlike the soft, pliable versions of the Christ child in his early Madonnas, this is a monumental, muscular putto, using his strength to hold that garland aloft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
“If you had a tree or some garland with 1,000 lights, it might have 800. Things will just get watered down, and so you will be paying the same, if not more, for less.”
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026
When fall rolls around, they loop a simple garland of leaves around the bar—nothing fancy, just a whisper of the season.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2025
Or why spend $30 on a holiday garland when you could make something similar out of shopping-bag cardboard?
From Slate ● Feb. 15, 2025
Clare kept at the badger’s heels, but when he spotted the acorn garland draped over the trees and smelled the sweet scent of cherry berries, he bounded ahead.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Wagler is expected to pair immediately with All-Star guard Darius Garland with the Clippers trying to win their first playoff series since 2021.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Wagler can team immediately with Garland to make a dynamic, young backcourt for a franchise hoping to win its first playoff series since 2021.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
With that, “Hacks” goes out on a Seinfeldian high note, cutting to Deborah and Ava happily strolling the Vegas strip on a sun-soaked day as a Barbra Streisand-Judy Garland duet lilts behind them.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
It will feature music from the likes of Judy Garland and Dame Shirley Bassey.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
It was funny—a money-obsessed world was the main reason Rain had dropped out and formed Garland.
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
The Erawan Shrine remains a popular draw for Chinese and other tourists to the Thai capital, and dozens of visitors made traditional offerings of marigold garlands and incense as usual on Thursday.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
And the extras that people load up on when they are feeling flush, such as wreaths and garlands and baskets, haven’t been selling well at all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Avery Colvert, who founded Altadena Girls in January as a 14-year-old, hung garlands and decorations around the 12,000-square-foot complex, beaming that what she’d built was at last open to the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025
Her advice is "lights first, then ribbon or garlands, then large baubles, then smaller pieces."
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025
Pine garlands with red velvet ribbons were hung around the doorframe.
From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick
She hit the buzzer at the first high chain-link fence, which was garlanded with a spool of razor wire atop.
From Slate ● May 2, 2025
They have the pulpy verve of Harlem’s crime fiction godfather, Chester Himes, combined with the literary heft of Whitehead’s more garlanded novels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
Thankfully, she was still able to finish her show before the strict 22:30 curfew, leaving fans with a blissful version of Video Games performed on a garlanded swing suspended from the rafters of the stage.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2023
As mourners sat beside garlanded photo frames of Yash and Raj on Tuesday, Raydhan Bhai pointed to Yash’s pet dog.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2022
In the dark inner chamber the God and Goddess were seated on their thrones, freshly anointed and garlanded with flowers.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Manjhiyain, who died last month, was just 15 when she was ostracised by her tribe - the Santhals - for garlanding India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru 63 years ago.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2023
The Mardi Gras party went ahead on Feb. 26 under purple and gold ribbons garlanding the entertainment room.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2020
And in 105- degree heat, hundreds of well-wishers leaned out from balconies, snapped photos and pushed forward to greet him, garlanding him with marigolds, pelting him with flower petals and offering sweets.
From Washington Post ● May 27, 2015
Photograph: Allstar/Universal Pictures; David James; Allstar After indulging Europe by garlanding The Artist last year and The King's Speech in 2011, the Oscars seem set to come home.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 21, 2013
On another wall was a framed photograph of Comrade Pillai garlanding Comrade E. M. S. Namboodiripad.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
