land

¹

[ land ]

noun

1. 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.

2. an area of ground with reference to its nature or composition:

   arable land.

3. an area of ground with specific boundaries:

   to buy land on which to build a house.

4. rural or farming areas, as contrasted with urban areas:

   They left the land for the city.

5. Law.
   1. 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.
   2. any legal interest held in land.
6. Economics. natural resources as a factor of production.
7. 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.

8. the people of a region or country
9. Audio. the flat surface between the grooves of a phonograph record.
10. a realm or domain:

    the land of the living.

11. a surface between furrows, as on a millstone or on the interior of a rifle barrel.
12. Scot. a tenement house.

verb (used with object)

1. to bring to or set on land:

   to land passengers or goods from a ship; to land an airplane.

2. to bring into or cause to arrive in a particular place, position, or condition:

   His behavior will land him in jail.

3. Informal. to catch or capture; gain; win:

   to land a job.

4. Angling. to bring (a fish) to land, or into a boat, etc., as with a hook or a net.

verb (used without object)

1. to come to land or shore:

   The boat lands at Cherbourg.

2. to go or come ashore from a ship or boat.
3. to alight upon a surface, as the ground, a body of water, or the like:

   to land on both feet.

4. to hit or strike the ground, as from a height:

   The ball landed at the far side of the court.

5. to strike and come to rest on a surface or in something:

   The golf ball landed in the lake.

6. to come to rest or arrive in a particular place, position, or condition (sometimes followed by up ):

   to land in trouble; to land up 40 miles from home.

verb phrase

1. Informal. to reprimand; criticize:

   His mother landed on him for coming home so late.

Land

²

[ land ]

noun

1. Edwin Herbert, 1909–91, U.S. inventor and businessman: created the Polaroid camera.

-land

³

1. a combining form of land:

   hinterland; lowland.

Land

¹

/ lænd /

noun

1. LandEdwin Herbert19091991MUSTECHNOLOGY: inventor Edwin Herbert. 1909–91, US inventor of the Polaroid Land camera

land

²

/ lænd /

noun

1. the solid part of the surface of the earth as distinct from seas, lakes, etc terrestrial
2. 1. ground, esp with reference to its use, quality, etc
   2. ( in combination )

      land-grabber

3. rural or agricultural areas as contrasted with urban ones
4. farming as an occupation or way of life
5. law
   1. any tract of ground capable of being owned as property, together with any buildings on it, extending above and below the surface
   2. any hereditament, tenement, or other interest; realty
6. 1. a country, region, or area
   2. the people of a country, etc
7. a realm, sphere, or domain
8. economics the factor of production consisting of all natural resources
9. the unindented part of a grooved surface, esp one of the ridges inside a rifle bore
10. how the land lies
    how the land lies the prevailing conditions or state of affairs

verb

1. to transfer (something) or go from a ship or boat to the shore

   land the cargo

2. intr to come to or touch shore
3. to come down or bring (something) down to earth after a flight or jump
4. to come or bring to some point, condition, or state
5. tr angling to retrieve (a hooked fish) from the water
6. informal.
   tr to win or obtain

   to land a job

7. informal.
   tr to deliver (a blow)

Land

³

/ lant /

noun

1. 1. any of the federal states of Germany
   2. any of the provinces of Austria

Derived Forms

• ˈlandlessness, noun
• ˈlandless, adjective

Other Words From

• landlike adjective
• re·land verb
• under·land noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of land¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of land¹

Old English; compare Old Norse, Gothic land, Old High German lant

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. land / fall on one's feet, feet ( def 3 ).
2. see how the land lies, to investigate in advance; inform oneself of the facts of a situation before acting: Compare lay of the land.

   You should see how the land lies before making a formal proposal.

More idioms and phrases containing land

• cloud-cuckoo land
• fall (land) on one's feet
• fat of the land
• la-la land
• lay of the land
• never-never land

Example Sentences

For every nanosecond that I miraculously lift off the ground, I land with an inordinately loud thud.

From The Daily Beast

It was supposed to land in Singapore at 8:57 a.m. local time.

From The Daily Beast

The Federal Duck Stamp Act raised the fee on stamps needed to hunt waterfowl on federal land from $15 to $25.

From The Daily Beast

In this American dream, we are emotionally tied to the people and land of our communities.

From The Daily Beast

Chickens require significantly less land, water, and energy than all other meat options except farmed salmon.

From The Daily Beast

Then with your victorious legions you can march south and help drive the Yankee invaders from the land.

From Project Gutenberg

It is a lofty and richly-decorated pile of the fourteenth century; and tells of the labours and the wealth of a foreign land.

From Project Gutenberg

Worst danger zone, the open sea, now traversed, but on land not yet out of the wood.

From Project Gutenberg

It was more like the boarding of a ship than any land fight I had ever seen or imagined.

From Project Gutenberg

We see the whole land, even if but at a distance, instead of being limited merely to the spot where our foot treads.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• acreage
• area
• beach
• continent
• country
• countryside
• district
• earth
• estate
• farmland
• field
• ground
• home
• homeland
• nation
• parcel
• plot
• province
• ranch
• real estate

Words That Use -land

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.

Examples of -land

An example of a word you may have encountered that features –land is borderland, “land forming a border or frontier.”

The border– portion of the word means, literally, “border,” from Middle English bordure. As we have seen, the suffix –land means “land.” Borderland literally means “land on the border.”

What are some words that use the combining form –land?

• hinterland
• lowland
• motherland
• mainland (using the equivalent form of –land in Middle English)
• fatherland

What are some other forms that –land may be commonly confused with?

• -lagnia
• -lalia

Not every word that ends with the exact letters –land, such as bland, is necessarily using the combining form –land to denote “land.” Learn why bland means “dull” at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

Given the meaning of the combining form –land, what does lowland mean?