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• park
  park

  noun

  an area of land, usually in a largely natural state, for the enjoyment of the public, having facilities for rest and recreation, often owned, set apart, and managed by a city, state, or nation.
• Park
  Park

  noun

  Mungo 1771–1806?, Scottish explorer in Africa.

park

¹ American  

[pahrk] / pɑrk /

noun

• parks
  plural

1. an area of land, usually in a largely natural state, for the enjoyment of the public, having facilities for rest and recreation, often owned, set apart, and managed by a city, state, or nation.

2. an enclosed area or a stadium used for sports.

   a baseball park.

3. a considerable extent of land forming the grounds of a country house.

4. British. a tract of land reserved for wild animals; game preserve.

5. Western U.S. a broad valley in a mountainous region.

6. a space where vehicles, especially automobiles, may be assembled or stationed.

7. amusement park.

8. theme park.

9. any area set aside for public recreation.

10. Military.

    1. the space occupied by the assembled guns, tanks, or vehicles of a military unit.

    2. the assemblage so formed.

    3. (formerly) the ammunition trains and reserve artillery of an army.

11. Automotive. a setting in an automatic transmission in which the transmission is in neutral and the brake is engaged.

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verb (used with object)

• parks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• parked,
  past participle,  past
• parking
  present participle

1. to place or leave (a vehicle) in a certain place for a period of time.

2. Informal. to put, leave, or settle.

   Park your coat on the chair. Park yourself over there for a moment.

3. to assemble (equipment or supplies) in a military park.

4. to enclose in or as in a park.

5. Informal. to invest (funds) in a stock, bond, etc., considered to be a safe investment with little chance of depreciation, as during a recession or an unstable economic period, or until one finds a more profitable investment.

6. Aerospace. to place (a satellite) in orbit.

verb (used without object)

• parks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• parked,
  past participle,  past
• parking
  present participle

1. to park a car, bicycle, etc.

2. Informal. to engage in kissing and caressing in a parked car.

Park ² American  

[pahrk] / pɑrk /

noun

1. Mungo 1771–1806?, Scottish explorer in Africa.

2. Robert E., 1864–1944, U.S. sociologist.

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park ¹ British  

/ pɑːk /

noun

1. a large area of land preserved in a natural state for recreational use by the public See also national park

2. a piece of open land in a town with public amenities

3. an area, esp of mountain country, reserved for recreational purposes

4. a large area of land forming a private estate

5. English law an enclosed tract of land where wild beasts are protected, acquired by a subject by royal grant or prescription Compare forest

6. an area designed and landscaped to accommodate a group of related enterprises, businesses, research establishments, etc

   science park

7. See amusement park

8. See car park

9. a playing field or sports stadium

10. informal a soccer pitch

11. a gear selector position on the automatic transmission of a motor vehicle that acts as a parking brake

12. the area in which the equipment and supplies of a military formation are assembled

13. a high valley surrounded by mountains in the western US

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verb

1. to stop and leave (a vehicle) temporarily

2. to manoeuvre (a motor vehicle) into a space for it to be left

   try to park without hitting the kerb

3. stock exchange to register (securities) in the name of another or of nominees in order to conceal their real ownership

4. informal (tr) to leave or put somewhere

   park yourself in front of the fire

5. (intr) military to arrange equipment in a park

6. (tr) to enclose in or as a park

Park ² British  

/ pɑːk /

noun

1. Mungo (ˈmʌŋɡəʊ). 1771–1806, Scottish explorer. He led two expeditions (1795–97; 1805–06) to trace the course of the Niger in Africa. He was drowned during the second expedition

2. Nick, full name Nicholas Wulstan Park. born 1958, British animator and film director; his films include A Grand Day Out (1992), which introduced the characters Wallace and Gromit, and the feature-length Chicken Run (2000)

3. Chung Hee. (ˈtʃʊŋ ˈhiː). 1917–79, South Korean politician; president of the Republic of Korea (1963–79); assassinated

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• parker
  noun
• superpark
  noun
• overpark
  verb
• repark
  verb
• parklike
  adjective
• unparked
  adjective
• well-parked
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• parks
  plural

Participles

• parking
  present
• parked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• park
  simple
• parks
  simple
• have parked
  perfect
• has parked
  perfect
• am parking
  progressive
• are parking
  progressive
• is parking
  progressive
• have been parking
  perfect progressive
• has been parking
  perfect progressive

Past

• parked
  simple
• had parked
  perfect
• was parking
  progressive
• were parking
  progressive
• had been parking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will park
  simple
• will have parked
  perfect
• will be parking
  progressive
• will have been parking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of park

1225–75; Middle English (noun) < Old French parc enclosure < Late Latin *parricus < West Germanic *parruk ( see paddock ¹)

Explanation

A park is an outdoor green space that people use for recreation. People can also park a car, which is to pull into a parking space and stop. Just don’t park your car in a park. Unless you’re a squirrel. A city park usually has playgrounds, sports fields, walking paths, grass, and trees. There are also larger tracts of wild public land also known as parks, and these often have hiking trails, mountains, or bodies of water. Park is a verb too, meaning "drive into a parking space," so you could park your scooter at the park. Originally this verb referred exclusively to military vehicles, but by 1844 you could park any vehicle at all.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

park Park parks parked parking

But there are apartment blocks close by and there is a park directly opposite as well as a sports club.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

So we kind of just walk and wander the neighborhoods or go to a park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

National park official Rudijanta Tjahja Nugraha said the area on fire was in a steep, cliffside region, making it difficult for firefighters to reach.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

Dan Gilbert, the billionaire co-founder of Rocket Mortgage, plans to create new housing, a park and an entertainment district on the city’s waterfront.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

The faster they crossed the park and made it to MacDougal, the faster she could put it all behind her.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

And then a representative for Grande announced she’d be taking a break from the public eye, finishing her tour, but canceling her much-anticipated London performance in “Sunday In The Park With George.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

While fans like Park continued to film, some heeded the band's call.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

From Boyle Heights to Monterey Park, residents said they were overwhelmed by the smoke from the week-long fire, and then tormented by the horrible stench from decaying meat and seafood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Neither of us had been anywhere as nature-adjacent as even Bryant Park all week.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

Leah leased a “handsome” three-story brownstone at 78 West Twenty-Sixth Street, near Manhattan’s Madison Square Park.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

“We are so grateful to all the artists — from our headliners to our musicians in the parks, many of whom went above and beyond to make this affordable to the community,” Ludlow added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

However, consumer demand is weaker in Asia, and Disney’s parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong are expected to have more challenging third and fourth quarters, D’Amaro says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Those who can drive claim an ever-larger share of public space, while walking becomes a leisure activity confined to gated communities, parks or gym treadmills.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

While attendance at US parks rose three percent, Disney acknowledged a slowdown in the number of international visitors to its US venues.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

The bus parks on the street and Kumu Maka turns off the engine.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Now I live in Gurugram, where footpaths vanish into rubble and garbage, are abruptly blocked by parked vehicles or construction, or sit uncomfortably high above the road.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Because Japanese institutions are the world’s largest cross-border creditors, rising yields at home weaken the case for owning foreign debt and give capital parked in U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

A burst pipe in Beverly Grove sent water flowing down the street on Sunday morning, threatening parked vehicles and forcing some water services in the area to be shut off.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

The white station building was untouched as was a red firefighting truck and small helicopter parked in front of the building.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

Two police cars were parked outside the McKay house— and one very shiny black SUV.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

He said disabled parking spaces in Belfast were often taken up by delivery drivers or people without blue badges.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

He makes it his personal mission that no one gets a parking ticket for street cleaning on our block, going up and down the block twice a week to remind anyone who forgot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

The council’s signage was then replaced with placards urging residents to fight back against the parking plans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

I’d see an old man with his gray dreads and sing-songy voice as I would walk from parking my car on the street.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

I take a few strides farther down the road and find an archway in the trees where the gravel road turns into a large parking lot.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

• estate
• forest
• garden
• lawn
• place
• playground
• plaza
• square