land

1 of 2

noun

often attributive
1
a
: the solid part of the surface of the earth
also : a corresponding part of a celestial body (such as the moon)
b
: ground or soil of a specified situation, nature, or quality
dry land
c
: the surface of the earth and all its natural resources
2
: a portion of the earth's solid surface distinguishable by boundaries or ownership
bought land in the country
: such as
a
: country
the finest cheese in all the land
b
: a rural area characterized by farming or ranching
also : farming or ranching as a way of life
wanted to move back to the land
3
: realm, domain
in the land of dreams
sometimes used in combination
TV-land
4
: the people of a country
the land rose in rebellion
5
: an area of a partly machined surface (such as the inside of a gun barrel) that is left without machining
landless adjective
landlessness noun

land

2 of 2

verb

landed; landing; lands

transitive verb

1
: to set or put on shore from a ship : disembark
2
a
: to set down after conveying
b
: to cause to reach or come to rest in a particular place
never landed a punch
c
: to bring to a specified condition
his wit landed him in trouble
d
: to bring to a landing
land an airplane
e
: to complete successfully by landing
the skater landed all her jumps
3
a
: to catch and bring in
land a fish
b
: gain, secure
land a job
landed the leading role

intransitive verb

1
a
: to go ashore from a ship : disembark
b
of a ship or boat : to touch at a place on shore
2
a
: to come to the end of a course or to a stage in a journey : arrive
took a wrong turn and landed on a dead-end street
b
: to come to be in a condition or situation
landed in jail
c
: to strike or meet a surface (as after a fall)
landed on my head
d
: to alight on a surface

Examples of land in a Sentence

Noun the land along the highway The land stretched as far as you could see. They cleared some land to grow crops. After two days of sailing, we were miles from land. They invaded the country by land and by sea. They own land in Alaska. They bought some land and built a house. His lands extend as far as the eye can see. He was the most powerful politician in the land. the lands of the Far East Verb The plane landed on the runway. We watched the seaplanes landing on the water. The bird landed in a tree. A butterfly landed on the flower. Our flight was scheduled to land in Pittsburgh at 4:00. It was raining heavily at the airport when we landed. The pilot was able to land the plane on the runway. The golf ball landed in the trees. I could not see where the ball landed. The cat fell from the tree but landed on its feet.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
From 2002 to 2022, the amount of land dedicated to forage crops in Arizona grew from 289,334 acres to 423,246 acres. The Arizona Republic, 5 Mar. 2024 The property encompasses a generous 7,800 square feet of land. Bay Area Home Report, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024 Lessons from the city’s first ‘net-zero’ accessory dwelling unit March 5, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EST In the spring of 2020, Aurora Ferrari looked at the plot of land sandwiched between her D.C. backyard and an alley, and saw potential. Rachel Kurzius, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 For robotic missions, in 2018, the space organization started a three-billion-dollar program called Commercial Lunar Payload Services, which guarantees companies that want to land equipment and sensors on the moon at least one passenger: the United States government. David W. Brown, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 Pennington is one of many cattle farmers whose livelihoods have been devastated by the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest wildfire in Texas history, which has burned more than a million acres of land across the panhandle. Camila Bernal, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024 Thousands of cattle killed in fires In addition to damaging structures and destroying miles of land, the fires have also killed thousands of cattle, officials said this week. USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2024 With no boundaries around timeframes, style, and architectural design, Lanthimos steered the surrealist ship, ultimately helping Waddington, Heath, and Price land their first Oscar nomination. Kalia Richardson, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2024 Reserve Capital Partners plans to convert the largely empty patch of brushy land into an industrial development. Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Feb. 2024
Verb
In February, that record landed Laufey her first Grammy, for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Leah Lu, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2024 The long-awaited and recently opened 7-acre Downtown Cary Park now provides a centralized gathering space, further adding to the reasons the city landed on Livability’s 2023 Best Places to Live list. Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 6 Mar. 2024 But there are six other brand-new Hidden Valley flavors landing on shelves this spring for ranch-lovers to get excited about. Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2024 An almost 200 acre estate with, well, almost every luxury under the sun has landed on the real estate market in Madison County, Florida, for $3.525 million. Tj MacIas, Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2024 Cinnabar has landed people in hospitals—after accidental overdosing on traditional medicines, a suicide attempt or work in unsafe conditions with the substance. Bridget Alex, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2024 This is the third time the school has landed in the top 10 in the last decade. The Arizona Republic, 5 Mar. 2024 Choi graduated in 2011 and held a series of marketing and project-manager jobs in Philly and New York City before landing at Estée Lauder. Sean Gregory, TIME, 5 Mar. 2024 The vehicle fell from the Riverside Drive freeway overpass and landed on a concrete center divider on the 134 Freeway, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a news release. Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'land.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English lond, land, going back to Old English, going back to Germanic *landa- (strong neuter noun), perhaps originally "untilled land" (whence also Old Frisian land, lond "land, earth, country, landed property," Old Saxon land, Old High German lant, Old Norse land, Gothic land "field, country"), going back to dialectal Indo-European *londh-o-, o-grade form of a noun with apparent zero-grade *ln̥dh-eh2- in Celtic *land-ā-, whence Old Irish land, lann "land, plot, church building," Welsh llan "church and its adjoining property, enclosure," also Old Irish ithlann "threshing floor" (with ith "grain"), Old Welsh itlann, glossing Latin ārea "threshing floor," Welsh ydlan "barnyard" (with ŷd "grain"); and probably in Elfdalian (dialect of north central Sweden) linda "overgrown field," Old Prussian lindan (accusative singular) "valley"; zero-grade *ln̥dh- or full grade *lendh- in Slavic *lęd-, whence Russian ljadá "uncultivated field with first-growth forest," Old Russian ljadina "wasteland, weeds, thick brush," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian lèdina, ledìna "wasteland, virgin soil," Polish ląnd "dry land, mainland"

Note: The etymon is limited to northern European Indo-European: Celtic, Germanic, Slavic and (marginally) Baltic. E. Seebold (in F. Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 22. Auflage, 1989) proposes a derivative *lem-dh- from a verbal base *lem- "break (ground)," whence Old Church Slavic lemešĭ "plow," Lithuanian lẽmežis "wooden part of the plough" (compare Old Church Slavic lomiti "to break"). The suggestion has also been made that the etymon was borrowed from a non-Indo-European language.

Verb

Middle English londen, landen, derivative of lond, land land entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of land was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near land

Cite this Entry

“Land.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/land. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

land

1 of 2 noun
1
: the solid part of the surface of the earth
2
: a portion of the earth's surface
fenced land
marshy land
3
4
: real estate
owns land in Alaska
landless adjective

land

2 of 2 verb
1
a
: to set or go ashore from a ship : disembark
b
: to stop at or near a place on shore
2
: to come down or bring down and settle on a surface
land a plane
3
: to bring to or arrive at a destination or a position or condition
land in jail
4
a
: to catch and bring in
land a fish
b
lander noun

Legal Definition

land

noun
1
: an area of the earth usually inclusive of improvements, bodies of water, and natural or man-made objects and extending indefinitely upward and downward compare air right
2
: an estate, interest, or right in land
land means both surface and mineral rightsCalifornia Public Resources Code

Biographical Definition

Land

biographical name

Edwin Herbert 1909–1991 American inventor and industrialist

More from Merriam-Webster on land

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!