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garden

[gahr-dn]
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noun
  1. a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.
  2. 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.
  3. a fertile and delightful spot or region.
  4. British. yard2(def 1).
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adjective
  1. pertaining to, produced in, or suitable for cultivation or use in a garden: fresh garden vegetables; garden furniture.
  2. garden-variety.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to lay out, cultivate, or tend a garden.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to cultivate as a garden.
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Idioms
  1. lead up/down the garden path, to deceive or mislead in an enticing way; lead on; delude: The voters had been led up the garden path too often to take a candidate's promises seriously.
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Origin of garden

1300–50; Middle English gardin < Old North French gardin, Old French jardin < Germanic; compare Old High German gartin-, German Garten, yard2
Related formsgar·den·a·ble, adjectivegar·den·less, adjectivegar·den·like, adjectiveun·gar·dened, adjectivewell-gar·dened, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

bedfieldnurseryterracepatiogreenhouseplotconservatorypatchoasisenclosurehothouse

Examples from the Web for gardens

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Numerous lamps were lighted in the trees, making the gardens bright as noon.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • I fancied it in the fields, in the gardens, in the palace, in the prison.

  • At last we got through all the rooms and all the pictures, and came out into the gardens.

    To be Read at Dusk

    Charles Dickens

  • The last scene of the second act is in the gardens of the Convent of Virgins of the Sun.

    Apu Ollantay

    Anonymous

  • He walked about the Gardens, delighting in the quiet and the coolness.

    The Foolish Lovers

    St. John G. Ervine

British Dictionary definitions for gardens

garden

noun
  1. British
    1. an area of land, usually planted with grass, trees, flowerbeds, etc, adjoining a houseUS and Canadian word: yard
    2. (as modifier)a garden chair
    1. an area of land used for the cultivation of ornamental plants, herbs, fruit, vegetables, trees, etc
    2. (as modifier)garden tools Related adjective: horticultural
  3. (often plural) such an area of land that is open to the public, sometimes part of a parkbotanical gardens
    1. a fertile and beautiful region
    2. (as modifier)a garden paradise
  5. (modifier) provided with or surrounded by a garden or gardensa garden flat
  6. lead a person up the garden path informal to mislead or deceive a person
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adjective
  1. common or garden informal ordinary; unexceptional
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verb
  1. to work in, cultivate, or take care of (a garden, plot of land, etc)
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Derived Formsgardenless, adjectivegarden-like, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Old French gardin, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German gart enclosure; see yard ² (sense 1)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gardens

garden

n.

c.1300, from Old North French gardin (13c., Modern French jardin), from Vulgar Latin hortus gardinus "enclosed garden," via Frankish *gardo, from Proto-Germanic *gardaz- (cf. Old Frisian garda, Old Saxon gardo, Old High German garto, German Garten "garden," Old English geard "enclosure," see yard (n.1)). Italian giardino, Spanish jardin are from French.

Garden-party is by 1843. Garden variety in figurative sense first recorded 1928. To lead someone up the garden path "entice, deceive" is attested by 1925.

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garden

v.

1570s, from garden (n.). Related: Gardened; gardening.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with gardens

garden

In addition to the idiom beginning with garden

  • garden variety

also see:

  • lead down the garden path
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.