green earth
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of green earth
First recorded in 1785–95
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.
“Why on God’s green earth, why would we allow this to happen?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2026
After viewing the matter from every angle and discussing it in a full editorial conference for an hour, I don’t see how in God’s green earth we can publish “Whose Names Are Unknown.”
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2024
The sheep came spilling over the hillside, emerging through the low mist where the green earth touched the gray sky, running down into the fields below.
From New York Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
"It's going to be hard to go back and see a black earth instead of a green earth," Ms August said.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2023
‘Halflings! But they are only a little people in old songs and children’s tales out of the North. Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?’
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
