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
She proceeded to a second tall fence with razor-wire garland and a second buzzer.
From Slate ● May 2, 2025
It has a gold trim and, under the light, you can catch a glimpse of an intricate garland pattern.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2024
Across the doorway a garland of mango leaves, symbol of happiness and good fortune, dry now and rattling in the breeze.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Ingram, the centerpiece of the Leonard trade, is a solid three-level scorer and will shoulder much of the offensive load alongside Garland — when healthy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Garland himself, 26, enters his first full season in L.A. as the team’s go-to scorer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
“It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster,” then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said when the lawsuit was filed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
The Stacys and other families filed formal requests in September 2023 to the attorney general’s office, then led by Merrick Garland, which administers the fund.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
“Anything. Insurance underwriting, like Garland was supposed to be doing. Or I’ll emigrate. Yes.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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
Decorating their soldiers with colourful garlands, hundreds of Afghans rallied in border provinces to decry Pakistan killing civilians and to show support for their troops battling at the frontier.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
There are also many things it isn’t: no bright green garlands, no mixing of plaids in the same room, and no gift bags under the tree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
The 50p decorations started what became a two-month endeavour, looking for retro baubles, garlands, and anything she could find to recreate those special years growing up in the '90s.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2025
In the morning Hari’s body was wrapped in a cloth and covered with garlands of marigolds.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
From east to west, north to south, L.A. was garlanded with banners that read “¡Bienvenido Gustavo!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
The Hangar, where all five candidates would speak, was garlanded with flags.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2024
They had been released in 2022, when they were garlanded with flowers by their families and a lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
"We didn't expect the whole village to come out and greet us. They garlanded us," says Mr Lakhan's wife, Geeta.
From BBC ● May 29, 2023
Before the party had started a great log had been dragged into the center of the lawn and Jack, painted and garlanded, sat there like an idol.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
Networks pay out big salaries to be able to have the most familiar faces, the most famous names and the most compelling characters sit awkwardly around a low-slung table, garlanding the coverage.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2024
The village headman summoned her and said that by garlanding Nehru, she had become his bride.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2023
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.
