Showing results for "landing"

• present participle of land.

landing

American  

[lan-ding] / ˈlæn dɪŋ /

noun

• landings
  plural

1. the act of a person or thing that lands.

   The pilot brought his plane in for a landing.

2. a place where persons or goods are landed, as from a ship.

   The boat moored at the landing.

3. Architecture.

   1. a platform between flights of stairs.

   2. the floor at the head or foot of a flight of stairs.

4. Shipbuilding.

   1. the overlap of two plates or planks, as in a clinker-built shell.

   2. the distance between the center of a rivet hole and the edge of the plate or shape into which it is cut.

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landing British  

/ ˈlændɪŋ /

noun

1. 1. the act of coming to land, esp after a flight or sea voyage

   2. ( as modifier )

      landing place

2. a place of disembarkation

3. the floor area at the top of a flight of stairs or between two flights of stairs

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Usage

What does landing mean? Landing is the act of returning to the ground after having been in flight or up in the air. It can also be used to refer to the act of returning to the land after having been in water. Landing also commonly refers to an instance of doing this. This especially involves aircraft, as in That was a rough landing. But it can also be applied to a person, as in She’ll have to stick the landing if she wants a perfect score. Landing can also mean a place where ships can dock. It can also refer to the floor at the top of a flight of stairs or the platform between two flights of stairs. The landing often has a bigger surface area than the steps and is usually positioned between flights when they change directions. The word landing comes is also the continuous tense (-ing form) of the verb land, as in We will be landing shortly. Example: I’m much more nervous during the landing than at takeoff.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• postlanding
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• landings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of landing

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at land, -ing ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

landing landings

The development of the spacecraft's landing legs was particularly difficult as gravity on Phobos is extremely low, according to Akinari Uehara, a Mitsubishi Electric engineer.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

They showed significant deterioration in several measures, including elevator and aileron control, landing accuracy and vertical and lateral deviation on approach.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Plack made her first-ever TikTok to celebrate landing the Dominican escape—the video has received over 100,000 likes and was saved more than 17,000 times.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

He pitched sideways, practically clearing the first set of steps and landing on the second flight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Wolf righted himself with a shake and leapt for the pouch, catching it in mid-air, but landing perilously close to the edge of the ravine.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

It signals that China may be able to challenge America's dominance in reusable rockets after successful landings by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Chuck Yeager’s 1947 flight that broke the sound barrier occurred at Edwards, as well as the first landings of the Space Shuttle in 1981.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

The rest of the company’s dreams are more moonshine than moon landings.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

"May we learn from this past," Hegseth said in reference to the pivotal involvement of American troops in the Allied landings.

From Barron's ● Jun. 6, 2026

These triumphant landings were due in considerable part to the great skill invested in their design, fabrication and testing, and to the abilities of the spacecraft controllers.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• dock