garden
noun
a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.
garden
1 American
[gahr-dn]
/ ˈgɑr dn /
noun
-
gardens
plural
-
a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.
-
a piece of ground or other space, commonly with ornamental plants, trees, etc., used as a park or other public recreation area.
a public garden.
-
a fertile and delightful spot or region.
-
British. yard.
adjective
-
pertaining to, produced in, or suitable for cultivation or use in a garden.
fresh garden vegetables; garden furniture.
verb (used without object)
-
gardens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gardened,
past participle, past
-
gardening
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
gardens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gardened,
past participle, past
-
gardening
present participle
idioms
Garden
2
American
[gahr-dn]
/ ˈgɑr dn /
noun
-
Alexander, 1730?–91, U.S. naturalist, born in Scotland.
-
Mary, 1877–1967, U.S. soprano.
garden
British
/ ˈɡɑːdən /
noun
-
-
US and Canadian word: yard. an area of land, usually planted with grass, trees, flowerbeds, etc, adjoining a house
-
( as modifier )
a garden chair
-
-
-
an area of land used for the cultivation of ornamental plants, herbs, fruit, vegetables, trees, etc
-
( as modifier )
garden tools
-
-
(often plural) such an area of land that is open to the public, sometimes part of a park
botanical gardens
-
-
a fertile and beautiful region
-
( as modifier )
a garden paradise
-
-
(modifier) provided with or surrounded by a garden or gardens
a garden flat
-
informal to mislead or deceive a person
adjective
verb
garden
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
garden-likeadjective
-
gardenableadjective
-
gardenlessadjective
-
gardenlikeadjective
-
ungardenedadjective
-
well-gardenedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
gardensimple
-
gardenssimple
-
have gardenedperfect
-
has gardenedperfect
-
am gardeningprogressive
-
are gardeningprogressive
-
is gardeningprogressive
-
have been gardeningperfect progressive
-
has been gardeningperfect progressive
Past
-
gardenedsimple
-
had gardenedperfect
-
was gardeningprogressive
-
were gardeningprogressive
-
had been gardeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of garden
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English gardin, from Old North French gardin, Old French jardin, from Germanic; compare Old High German gartin-, German Garten; see also yard 2
Explanation
A garden is a piece of land that's used to grow flowers, vegetables, or other plants. Your grandmother might be so proud of her rose garden that she gives every visitor a tour of it. A vegetable garden is often planted in straight rows, sometimes within a raised bed. Flower gardens can take all sorts of shapes, from tidy to meandering. When you work in your garden, pulling weeds or planting seedlings, you garden. In the UK, a garden is what's called a yard in the US — any bit of land just outside of a house. The phrase "garden variety" means "ordinary:" "Oh he's just a garden variety mixed-breed dog, nothing fancy."
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:
Behind a fence beyond the iconic orange 76 ball in the parking lot once sat a hidden garden.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
To gain more agency, for example, you can tend the garden for an hour or write your autobiography.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Richard Baines, curator at Logan, described the arrival as a significant moment and said the garden could play an important role in learning more about the species and helping secure its future.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Instinct’s service exists outside of Apple’s walled garden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
First his garden, and now the badger meant to insult Clare’s home?
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
A date at Madison Square Garden was so close to completion that plans were already being drawn up for a Manhattan news conference.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
At a Phoebe Bridgers concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden earlier this year, my iPhone and AirPods were locked in a Yondr pouch as soon as I arrived.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Logan Botanic Garden has been described as "Scotland's most exotic garden"
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
The comments, which came during a rare White House Rose Garden appearance by an attorney general, underscore how closely Blanche has aligned himself with the president.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
I mean, if Forrest Gump can meet three presidents, I can make it out of the Garden one day.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
Like the groves and gardens, houses built foolhardily near the dry summertime river risked being pulled off their foundations and washed away by the winter torrents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
In the past, some in the community considered wild boar and deer pests for damaging their gardens and crops, she said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
And peppered throughout the museum and its park and gardens are brand-new life-size bronze renditions: Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter, Yoda and Indiana Jones, whip at the ready.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
"Throughout that time - and around 700 programmes - I have had the privilege of sharing my own abiding passion for gardens and gardening with an equally passionate, and often equally knowledgeable audience," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Dr. Pérez led us on a tour of the patients’ quarters, including little houses and apartments set among gardens and palm trees.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Both gardened, and she thinks the accident contributed to their illnesses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
“My father built a cabin and gardened; we raised chickens and sheep. My mother was a schoolteacher who sewed all my clothes and dolls.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
It was once Mattus’s grandfather’s house, and his father was born there; both previous generations gardened there, too.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2024
Gen. Kanamine’s father gardened and served food to the host family; his wife cooked and did housework.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 6, 2023
Lena gardened in the back beneath a large sun hat.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
According to Kotsoni - gardening is officially cool in the fashion world.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
"There are lots of gardening appropriate silhouettes on the runways," she says, including aprons, waterproof materials and trench coats.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
They said Walmart could venture into shorter video content involving things like home renovations and gardening, made in collaboration with suppliers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
The batter looked almost suspiciously vegetable-heavy going into the oven, the sort of mixture that makes you wonder whether you have misunderstood either baking or gardening.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
We fan out, looking for a gardening truck or something that might have a hose, but no luck.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
