playground
Americannoun
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playgrounds
plural
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an area used for outdoor play or recreation, especially by children, and often containing recreational equipment such as slides and swings.
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Informal. any place, environment, or facility used for recreation or amusement, as a resort.
The tropical island is an international playground for the rich.
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an arena of operation or activity.
noun
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an outdoor area for children's play, esp one having swings, slides, etc, or adjoining a school
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a place or region particularly popular as a sports or holiday resort
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a sphere of activity
reading was his private playground
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of playground
Explanation
A playground is a place to frolic and play. Most kids know where the nearest playground is because that’s where the swings and slides are. Neighborhoods and schools usually have a playground. Weeeeee! A playground built especially for kids has equipment for them to play on, like climbing structures, swings, seesaws, and play houses. Many public parks have this kind of playground. When adults talk about their favorite playgrounds, they usually mean a place they go to do the sports or activities they love. A nearby mountain, for example, could be described as a playground for snow boarders.
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:
As soon as it hits 9ish, my son needs a nap, so while he sleeps, Nakano and I go to a little playground, and I just let her run off some of her morning energy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
At The Yard, a junkyard playground on a former Coast Guard installation in New York City, children play with hammers, saws and knives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Suffolk Coroner's Court heard from police that Noah had left the playground, walked into a memorial garden and left that through an open gate.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Ali envisions someday performing as the bug in the desert in the Middle East and maybe building a children’s public playground as a “fun manifestation” of the project.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
The first one was located in the Roosevelt Building, and we took a sharp right and raced down the short path, through the dark playground and up the stairs to the wide glass double doors.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
They are typically nonprofit organizations that maintain amenities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, gyms, playgrounds, private roads, shared parking lots, sidewalks, trash removal and more.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Certainly, many who live in Berlin love its rich artistic and cultural life, green spaces, lakes and children's playgrounds, vibrant start-up scene and hedonistic, anything-goes nightlife.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
The projects include replacing pavement with trees and landscaping, creating outdoor learning areas and improving playgrounds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Over the past two weeks, the sound of children has returned to Scotland's school playgrounds.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
But I know ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds.
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
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.
