land

noun, often attributive

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\ ˈland

Definition of land

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : 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

land

verb

landed; landing; lands

Definition of land (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to set or put on shore from a ship : disembark

2a : 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

3a : to catch and bring in land a fish

b : gain, secure land a job landed the leading role

intransitive verb

1a : to go ashore from a ship : disembark

b of a ship or boat : to touch at a place on shore

2a : 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

Other Words from land Synonyms More Example Sentences Phrases Containing land Learn More About land

Synonyms for land

Synonyms: Noun

Synonyms: Verb

anchor,
dock

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. See More

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The Netherlands is famously deficient in something bulbs need: land. — John Kelly, Washington Post, 28 June 2022 But the federal government owns more than half of Oregon's total land, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has its own program for outbreaks on Western public land. — Claire Rush, USA TODAY, 27 June 2022 The rapid depletion of underground aquifers that took hundreds or thousands of years to form is so bad that shallower home wells are drying up, while the land above the aquifers is literally sinking. — Ky Henderson, Rolling Stone, 27 June 2022 Military veterans were often given the opportunity to buy land, Grace said. — Taylor Burnette, The Enquirer, 27 June 2022 That was on June 26, 1922, after the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved from its cozier, original home on Worple Road after purchasing land on Church Road to accommodate a new, larger stadium. — New York Times, 27 June 2022 As oil development expands across the tundra, money and modernization brings subtle changes, eroding the traditions formed around living off the land, said Peter Tagarook, 39, the cultural coordinator for the village. — Joshua Partlow, Anchorage Daily News, 27 June 2022 Over the years, his family had carved out their own slice of this island oasis, living off the land, tending to chicken and cattle and pigs on a family homestead, where cacao, taro, bananas and mangoes grew plentifully. — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2022 Though new permits aren’t being issued by FWC, existing ITPs are grandfathered in and can be transferred when land changes hands. — Patrick Connolly, Orlando Sentinel, 27 June 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb But it’s the Expectations Index that was hit hardest, plunging from 73.7 to 66.4 to land at its lowest level since March 2013. — Q.ai - Powering A Personal Wealth Movement, Forbes, 29 June 2022 The question was whether the Blazers would trade the No. 7 pick in Thursday’s NBA draft for Grant or try to land him another way. — oregonlive, 22 June 2022 Collin Morikawa, the two-time major champion who went into the day tied for the lead at 5-under, finished with a 77 to land himself at 2-over par. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 19 June 2022 And finally Draymond Green, who struggled for a lot of these Finals, turned in the kind of all-around performance that will one day land him in the Hall of Fame. — Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2022 Bob Hope arrived on the first jet to land on the runway, in 1972, using Diego Garcia to stage one of his Christmas shows for American troops. — Cullen Murphy, The Atlantic, 15 June 2022 The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act applies only to land that is under federal control or institutions that receive federal funding. — Graham Lee Brewer, NBC News, 11 May 2022 Julie Swann, a professor and public health researcher at North Carolina State University, expects the situation this summer to land in the middle: a small wave throughout the country with a slight uptick in hospitalizations and deaths. — Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, 9 May 2022 McCutchen becomes the second Brewers player to land on the COVID-19 list this season, joining catcher Victor Caratini. — Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7 May 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'land.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for land

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

Learn More About land

Dictionary Entries Near land

Lancs

land

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Statistics for land

Last Updated

30 Jun 2022

Cite this Entry

“Land.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/land. Accessed 4 Jul. 2022.

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More Definitions for land

land

noun

\ ˈland

Kids Definition of land

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : the solid part of the surface of the earth

2 : an area of ground or soil of a particular kind fertile land

3 : a part of the earth's surface marked off by boundaries They bought some land.

4 : a country or nation your native land

5 : the people of a country All the land rose in rebellion.

land

verb

landed; landing

Kids Definition of land (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : to go ashore or cause to go ashore from a ship The troops landed on the island.

2 : to come down or bring down and settle on a surface The airplane landed.

3 : to hit or come to a surface I fell and landed on my back.

4 : to be or cause to be in a particular place or condition He landed in jail.

5 : to catch and bring in land a fish

6 : to succeed in getting land a job

land

noun

Legal Definition of land

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 rights — California Public Resources Code

Land biographical name

\ ˈland