lawn
1 Americannoun
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a stretch of open, grass-covered land, especially one closely mowed, as near a house, on an estate, or in a park.
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Archaic. a glade.
noun
noun
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a flat and usually level area of mown and cultivated grass
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an archaic or dialect word for glade
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lawn1
1250–1300; Middle English launde < Middle French lande glade < Celtic; compare Breton lann heath. See land
Origin of lawn2
1375–1425; late Middle English lawnd, laun, perhaps named after Laon, where linen-making once flourished
Explanation
A lawn is an area of ground that's planted with grass. Your next-door neighbor might be so overly proud of his tidy lawn that he stands on it, glaring at the dandelions growing in yours. Most lawns are neatly mowed — a lawn that's allowed to grow tall might more accurately be called a field, especially if there are weeds or wildflowers mixed in with the grass. It's difficult to grow a lawn in places that don't get much rain, since it needs to be watered regularly to stay green and lush. Lawn was laune in the 1500s, meaning "open space between the woods," from the Old French lande, "heath, moor, or clearing."
Vocabulary lists containing lawn
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.
The following day, a 72-year-old Fresno resident shot and wounded an ICE agent whom police said had fallen asleep on the resident’s daughter’s front lawn, appeared “intoxicated and agitated” and allegedly assaulted the resident.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Did he say anything truly new at this fundraiser, like that he thinks James Talarico is a pretty good guy or that he enjoys wearing dresses when mowing the lawn?
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2026
Happily, there’s a solution for their plight—one that leaves a lucky old lady with a collection of better-than-average lawn ornaments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Those doubts deepened when Pillinger placed a model of Beagle 2 on the lawn.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
The lifeguard was the one who saved him, curling three tentacles around Daniel to draw him away from a bad-tempered eel who had started shouting about “crazy kids” on his lawn.
From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness
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.
