garden
noun
a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.
garden
1 American
[gahr-dn]
/ ˈgɑr dn /
noun
-
gardens
plural
-
a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.
-
a piece of ground or other space, commonly with ornamental plants, trees, etc., used as a park or other public recreation area.
a public garden.
-
a fertile and delightful spot or region.
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British. yard.
adjective
-
pertaining to, produced in, or suitable for cultivation or use in a garden.
fresh garden vegetables; garden furniture.
verb (used without object)
-
gardens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gardened,
past participle, past
-
gardening
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
gardens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gardened,
past participle, past
-
gardening
present participle
idioms
Garden
2
American
[gahr-dn]
/ ˈgɑr dn /
noun
-
Alexander, 1730?–91, U.S. naturalist, born in Scotland.
-
Mary, 1877–1967, U.S. soprano.
garden
British
/ ˈɡɑːdən /
noun
-
-
US and Canadian word: yard. an area of land, usually planted with grass, trees, flowerbeds, etc, adjoining a house
-
( as modifier )
a garden chair
-
-
-
an area of land used for the cultivation of ornamental plants, herbs, fruit, vegetables, trees, etc
-
( as modifier )
garden tools
-
-
(often plural) such an area of land that is open to the public, sometimes part of a park
botanical gardens
-
-
a fertile and beautiful region
-
( as modifier )
a garden paradise
-
-
(modifier) provided with or surrounded by a garden or gardens
a garden flat
-
informal to mislead or deceive a person
adjective
verb
garden
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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garden-likeadjective
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gardenableadjective
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gardenlessadjective
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gardenlikeadjective
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ungardenedadjective
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well-gardenedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gardensimple
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gardenssimple
-
have gardenedperfect
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has gardenedperfect
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am gardeningprogressive
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are gardeningprogressive
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is gardeningprogressive
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have been gardeningperfect progressive
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has been gardeningperfect progressive
Past
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gardenedsimple
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had gardenedperfect
-
was gardeningprogressive
-
were gardeningprogressive
-
had been gardeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of garden
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English gardin, from Old North French gardin, Old French jardin, from Germanic; compare Old High German gartin-, German Garten; see also yard 2
Explanation
A garden is a piece of land that's used to grow flowers, vegetables, or other plants. Your grandmother might be so proud of her rose garden that she gives every visitor a tour of it. A vegetable garden is often planted in straight rows, sometimes within a raised bed. Flower gardens can take all sorts of shapes, from tidy to meandering. When you work in your garden, pulling weeds or planting seedlings, you garden. In the UK, a garden is what's called a yard in the US — any bit of land just outside of a house. The phrase "garden variety" means "ordinary:" "Oh he's just a garden variety mixed-breed dog, nothing fancy."
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:
She and her husband raise a few chickens and keep a vegetable garden.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
It is felt most strongly in the memorial garden on the site of the fallen school, and among the white arched monuments of the cemetery.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
The house will be built on green belt land which is the garden of a home off Heber's Ghyll Drive, and will be eco-friendly, to an ultra-low energy standard called Passivhaus.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
To observe how the bioplastics behaved in a natural environment, the team placed samples beneath the surface of forest soil at the university's botanical garden.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
Carpenter bees buzz in and out of a hole in the garden pergola.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
The restaurant occupied a sprawling shopping center alongside an Olive Garden, a Cabela’s and a Costco, making it something of a regional mecca for homecoming dinners, birthday parties and Little League victories.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
The Grammy Award-winning star played the track, called What Is Enough, during his sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden, on the second anniversary of Payne's death.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Van Zandt has no signs of slowing down anytime soon, as Page Six recently reported that he is working on screenplays “set in the Garden State.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
He proudly showed off the metal sign he just bought, marked "Penn Station," the subway stop for Madison Square Garden -- the arena where his beloved Knicks basketball team plays.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
That’s why I answered Garden Autumn so immediately, even if I’d never normally admit those things out loud.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
The expansive grounds are outfitted with two ponds, lush gardens, and walking trails, as well as a resort-style swimming pool and an outdoor kitchen.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
Coral gardens like this one are considered vulnerable marine ecosystems.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Ube was a staple of Philippine gardens as long as 5,000 years ago, boiled and eaten by families as a substitute to rice when their provisions ran out.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
Scully said the trust needed to be "more open to how we would adapt," with gardens potentially becoming "less manicured".
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Elsewhere, in Berlin’s parks and gardens, thousands of Hitler followers stood in military formation.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
"I had to halt everything. I bought a house in Nashville, I gardened, I saw a therapist and I gave myself a chance to miss music."
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Both gardened, and she thinks the accident contributed to their illnesses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
“My father built a cabin and gardened; we raised chickens and sheep. My mother was a schoolteacher who sewed all my clothes and dolls.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
All 291 participants were adults and had not gardened within the last two years.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 23, 2023
The odd thing is when Father was around she never gardened at all.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
GOLDIN: When we started to talk seriously about adults, we could see that some people were into gardening and flowers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
"I've enjoyed doing the gardening and planting. It was nice to focus on something."
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
"It's a bit odd they were here in the middle of the night," one local told AFP as she did some gardening in the nearby village of Kempsford.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
He was also made subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order,, external banning him from carrying out building, maintenance or gardening work in the UK for life, and disqualified from being a company director until 2031.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Sunny shrieked, which meant “I’d much prefer gardening to sitting around watching my siblings struggle through law books.”
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
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