land
noun
any part of the earth's surface not covered by a body of water; the part of the earth's surface occupied by continents and islands.
land
1 American
[land]
/ lænd /
noun
-
lands
plural
-
any part of the earth's surface not covered by a body of water; the part of the earth's surface occupied by continents and islands.
Land was sighted from the crow's nest.
-
an area of ground with reference to its nature or composition.
arable land.
-
an area of ground with specific boundaries.
to buy land on which to build a house.
-
rural or farming areas, as contrasted with urban areas.
They left the land for the city.
-
Law.
-
any part of the earth's surface that can be owned as property, and everything annexed to it, whether by nature or by the human hand.
-
any legal interest held in land.
-
-
Economics. natural resources as a factor of production.
-
a part of the surface of the earth marked off by natural or political boundaries or the like; a region or country.
They came from many lands.
-
the people of a region or country
-
Audio. the flat surface between the grooves of a phonograph record.
-
a realm or domain.
the land of the living.
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a surface between furrows, as on a millstone or on the interior of a rifle barrel.
-
Scot. a tenement house.
verb (used with object)
-
lands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
landed,
past participle, past
-
landing
present participle
-
to bring to or set on land.
to land passengers or goods from a ship; to land an airplane.
-
to bring into or cause to arrive in a particular place, position, or condition.
His behavior will land him in jail.
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Informal. to catch or capture; gain; win.
to land a job.
-
Angling. to bring (a fish) to land, or into a boat, etc., as with a hook or a net.
verb (used without object)
-
lands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
landed,
past participle, past
-
landing
present participle
-
to come to land or shore.
The boat lands at Cherbourg.
-
to go or come ashore from a ship or boat.
-
to alight upon a surface, as the ground, a body of water, or the like.
to land on both feet.
-
to hit or strike the ground, as from a height.
The ball landed at the far side of the court.
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to strike and come to rest on a surface or in something.
The golf ball landed in the lake.
-
to come to rest or arrive in a particular place, position, or condition (sometimes followed byup ).
to land in trouble; to land up 40 miles from home.
verb phrase
idioms
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land / fall on one's feet, feet.
-
see how the land lies, to investigate in advance; inform oneself of the facts of a situation before acting.
You should see how the land lies before making a formal proposal.
Land
2
American
[land]
/ lænd /
noun
-land
3
American
land
1
British
/ lænd /
noun
-
the solid part of the surface of the earth as distinct from seas, lakes, etc
-
-
ground, esp with reference to its use, quality, etc
-
( in combination )
land-grabber
-
-
rural or agricultural areas as contrasted with urban ones
-
farming as an occupation or way of life
-
law
-
any tract of ground capable of being owned as property, together with any buildings on it, extending above and below the surface
-
any hereditament, tenement, or other interest; realty
-
-
-
a country, region, or area
-
the people of a country, etc
-
-
a realm, sphere, or domain
-
economics the factor of production consisting of all natural resources
-
the unindented part of a grooved surface, esp one of the ridges inside a rifle bore
-
the prevailing conditions or state of affairs
verb
-
to transfer (something) or go from a ship or boat to the shore
land the cargo
-
(intr) to come to or touch shore
-
to come down or bring (something) down to earth after a flight or jump
-
to come or bring to some point, condition, or state
-
(tr) angling to retrieve (a hooked fish) from the water
-
informal (tr) to win or obtain
to land a job
-
informal (tr) to deliver (a blow)
Land
2
British
/ lant /
noun
Land
3
British
/ lænd /
noun
land
More Idioms
Usage
What does -land mean? The combining form -land is used like a suffix meaning “land.” It is occasionally used in everyday and technical terms. The form -land comes from Old English.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
landsimple
-
landssimple
-
have landedperfect
-
has landedperfect
-
am landingprogressive
-
are landingprogressive
-
is landingprogressive
-
have been landingperfect progressive
-
has been landingperfect progressive
Past
-
landedsimple
-
had landedperfect
-
was landingprogressive
-
were landingprogressive
-
had been landingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of land
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch, German, Old Norse, Gothic land; akin to Irish lann “open space,” Welsh llan “church” (originally “enclosure”), Breton lann “heath.” See lawn 1
Explanation
Use the noun land to talk about the solid ground under your feet. It's nice to put your feet on dry land after a long trip in a sailboat. People who are afraid of flying are usually overjoyed to land on the land after hours in the sky — land is also a verb meaning "to settle down on the ground." You can use the word land, as well, to describe a government or ruler's territory: "He rules over the land between those mountains and the rocky coast." The words for land are the same in English, German, and Dutch, as the root is the Germanic landom.
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:
Four months later, Paxton’s family trust purchased an oceanview lot in a residential neighborhood there for $410,000, land records show.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
"Some company came and, without showing any respect, they took the land and we accepted it," the 50-year-old said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
News of the proposed land exchange set off a fury among conservationists, former Yosemite officials and many members of the public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
The wildfire began in the middle of July and burned across about 3,300 hectares – 33 sq km – of land, according to the Cairngorms National Park Authority.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Over and over, my compass guiding, I measure the land.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Yorkshire Wildlife Park opened in 2009, with its Land of the Tigers area opening in 2011.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Land prices have risen by an average of "more than 45 percent" since the city unveiled its development plans, said E. Ashok Kumar, Visakhapatnam head of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Land acknowledgements statements, agnosticism, the utility of college education and mixed-race families in commercials all get a moment in the over-stuffed script by Kyle Rankin.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Dozens of groups have lined up behind the proposal, including the Trust for Public Land, TreePeople, Friends of the Los Angeles River and many others.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Once we had loaded everything into his Land Rover, it was so full I was surprised it moved at all!
From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall
"We have large, sizable, fertile -land and good water," says Shihab.
From Time Magazine Archive
Shells, colour of, affected by light. -from Van Diemen's land. -land, extinct, at St. Helena. -particles of, drifted by the wind at St. Helena.
From Volcanic Islands by Charles Darwin
AI stocks struggle as investors fret about yields and oil prices, while Wolfspeed surges after it lands a financing deal with the Pentagon.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
One challenge is understanding what happens when a spacecraft lands.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
If diesel stays high, the bill for all three lands where you shop, save and borrow.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Abandoned mine lands, closed power plants and vacant industrial sites already possess what developers pay a premium for: existing transmission infrastructure, water rights and large, contiguous tracts of land.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
“Land of the free” lands like a screech.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
Medical Microinstruments, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based robotic microsurgery provider, landed $125 million in Series D funding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
I knew that it was where Leif Erikson landed a long time ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
After a more than 27-hour return journey, the Dragon capsule carrying Crew-12 landed safely in the Pacific Ocean, according to space agency NASA's live broadcast.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and her NFL star husband, Jonathan Owens, have landed a buyer for their sprawling Texas property—just days after listing the home they resided in while finishing up their custom mansion.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
That afternoon, the air became so crowded that several helicopters landed in the fields around Toutle High School at the same time.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Vizag is a landing point for submarine internet cables linking the country to Singapore, so for India, the location of the 600-acre site -- more than 340 football pitches -- is ideal.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
The CJP shared a video on social media showing its founder Abhijeet Dipke being detained with other leaders shortly after landing in the capital.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
That translates to the flu season landing about seven weeks earlier than in 2025 or 2024.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
With a different landing, the Princess of Wales might have been on trial for murder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
I fall backward and he flops over, landing in my lap, legs in the air, belly exposed for rubbing.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
