landscape
Americannoun
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landscapes
plural
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a section or expanse of rural scenery, usually extensive, that can be seen from a single viewpoint.
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a picture representing natural inland or coastal scenery.
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Fine Arts. the category of aesthetic subject matter in which natural scenery is represented.
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Obsolete. a panoramic view of scenery; vista.
verb (used with object)
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landscapes,
present (3rd person singular)
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landscaped,
past participle, past
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landscaping
present participle
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to improve the appearance of (an area of land, a highway, etc.), as by planting trees, shrubs, or grass, or altering the contours of the ground.
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to improve the landscape of.
verb (used without object)
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landscapes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
landscaped,
past participle, past
-
landscaping
present participle
adjective
noun
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an extensive area of land regarded as being visually distinct
ugly slagheaps dominated the landscape
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a painting, drawing, photograph, etc, depicting natural scenery
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the genre including such pictures
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( as modifier )
landscape painter
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the distinctive features of a given area of intellectual activity, regarded as an integrated whole
the landscape of the European imagination
adjective
verb
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(tr) to improve the natural features of (a garden, park, etc), as by creating contoured features and planting trees
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(intr) to work as a landscape gardener
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
landscapesimple
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landscapessimple
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have landscapedperfect
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has landscapedperfect
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am landscapingprogressive
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are landscapingprogressive
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is landscapingprogressive
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have been landscapingperfect progressive
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has been landscapingperfect progressive
Past
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landscapedsimple
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had landscapedperfect
-
was landscapingprogressive
-
were landscapingprogressive
-
had been landscapingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of landscape
First recorded in 1590–1600; 1925–30 landscape for def. 5; from Dutch landschap; cognate with Old English landsceap, landscipe; akin to German Landschaft; equivalent to land + -ship
Explanation
To landscape is to enhance a space with plants. If you landscape your yard with flowering plants and trees — and you have a green thumb — you'll end up with a beautiful garden. If you paint nature scenes, like mountains, lakes, or fields, your art is called landscape painting. If you don't paint that well, however, and the perspective on your landscapes is always a little bit off, you can try landscape photography instead. Any expanse of natural scenery that can be seen from one viewpoint is also called a landscape. The artistic meaning of landscape is the earliest, dating from the 1600s.
Vocabulary lists containing landscape
Visual Arts - Introductory
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Visual Arts - High School
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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:
The species name reflects both the landscape of Maranhão and the location where the fossils were found.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
“We’ve had Palase Green Coast, which turned natural landscape into villas and hotels, which produced nothing but waste and ugliness.”
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
The primary suite opens onto a private patio overlooking the surrounding landscape, while the spa-inspired bathroom features a double vanity, soaking tub, and an oversized glass shower.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
GUILIN, China—More than a millennium ago, the Tang dynasty writer Han Yu said of Guilin’s landscape, “The river forms a blue-green silk ribbon, the mountains are like jade hairpins.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Virtually treeless, it features frosted picture-book mountains that are interspersed with rugged, lava-strewn terrain, giving the landscape an unnatural, almost lunar appearance: American astronauts trained there before their voyages to the moon.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Their slim bodies and long front legs may have helped them travel efficiently through the open landscapes of Pleistocene North America.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer and writer whose work advocated fiercely for working landscapes and working people, died “suddenly and peacefully” on Monday at his home in Port Royal, Ky., according to his family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Drained peatlands, industrial timber estates and oil palm plantations can leave landscapes more vulnerable to burning, with fires often recurring in the same areas.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Many wealthy southern Europeans are getting ahead of the changes by moving to cooler locations such as the higher-altitude landscapes in northern Spain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
There was an endless wait while the scars on the wall before my eyes became faces, landscapes, animal shapes.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Planning documents lodged for the property said it "occupies an elevated position overlooking the Usk Valley, set within extensive landscaped grounds and the remnant parkland of a former estate".
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The entire lot measures more than 34,000 square feet, with landscaped gardens and lawns.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
When I was 6, we moved into a three-bedroom, pale-green stucco ranch that my dad had built and landscaped in Riverside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
A stable conversion nestled in the landscaped gardens of a Grade I listed country house in Devon.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
“They leveled everything out with bulldozers. Right? They brought in tons and tons of that white sand and dumped it here. Then they landscaped over everything.”
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
"For us, it's a little bit hard to use electric," explains Carlos Camarena, a supervisor for a California landscaping company.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
A new sewage pump station will be built and installed across from Kushner’s home, and the club will allow landscaping on the golf course.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
The compound comes with a three-car garage, two ipe wood decks, several outdoor seating areas, and drought-resistant landscaping that abounds with leafy hedges and mature trees.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
They pointed to the success of an Inside Safe operation at 6th and Fairfax, where the sidewalk was later narrowed and new landscaping was planted, making it difficult to camp there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
A website came up advertising a landscaping company.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
