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  • national park
    national park
    noun
    an area of scenic beauty, historical importance, or the like, owned and maintained by a national government for the use of the people.
  • National Park
    National Park
    noun
    a mountainous volcanic region in New Zealand, in the central North Island: ski resort
Synonyms

national park

American  

noun

  1. an area of scenic beauty, historical importance, or the like, owned and maintained by a national government for the use of the people.

National Park 1 British  

noun

  1. a mountainous volcanic region in New Zealand, in the central North Island: ski resort

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
national park 2 British  

noun

  1. an area of countryside for public use designated by a national government as being of notable scenic, environmental, or historical importance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of national park

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

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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.

Even before the summer rush, California’s most visited national park is seeing big crowds — the most people in a decade, according to National Park System data.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

The couple will later meet with Native Americans at a national park, before departing for the British island territory of Bermuda in the Atlantic.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

In 2021, Parks Canada, which oversees the national park, was working out whether to try to save them by investing some $24 million in a major caribou breeding program.

From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026

The following day, they return to D.C. to say goodbye to the Trumps and will visit a national park in the Appalachian mountains to meet indigenous Americans.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

However, it did produce the Pacific Crest Trail and secured the future of the AT by making it a de facto national park.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

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.