as in soil
the solid part of our planet's surface as distinguished from the sea and air after that nightmarish storm, the sailors were grateful to reach terra firma

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of terra firma The pinkish-coral horizon of the morning had given way to a bright cobalt sky, and as the chopper descended after the fun ride, Ted and I were ready for terra firma, eager to sit down for lunch. John Malone, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2025 At approximately 5 minutes and 20 seconds into the flight, the civilian astronauts returned to their seats for their journey back to terra firma. Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 29 June 2025 And boy did the terrain change while crawling up, along, and down steep unpaved terra firma. Peter Nelson, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025 Helium-3 is rare on terra firma, but is thought to be abundant in the regolith of the Moon. Paul Ridden may 27, New Atlas, 27 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for terra firma
Recent Examples of Synonyms for terra firma
Noun
  • Orchids are heavy feeders, and their soil alone won't provide enough nutrients for them.
    Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Add compost to the soil to provide organic matter and improve soil structure.
    Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Advertisement Restoring degraded land offers similar payoffs.
    Kaveh Zahedi, Time, 3 Nov. 2025
  • For instance, the Bangladesh delta, one of the most fertile and densely populated areas in the world, is already experiencing problems, including salinity intrusion, rising sea levels and the loss of arable land.
    Pintu Kumar Mahla, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • And Rivian plans to break ground on a new plant in Georgia next year to support production of the R2 and the future R3.
    Jane Thier, Fortune, 2 Nov. 2025
  • Video of the encounter shows Lee at the front of the crowd when officers with Illinois State Police patches on their sleeves pushed in an apparent attempt to clear them from a paved area, and some demonstrators tried to hold their ground.
    Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • To put this into perspective, while CORONA photographed approximately 590 million square miles of the earth’s surface during its entire multiyear run, Planet photographs 186 million square miles every day.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Trump signed a rare-earths deal with Japan's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.
    Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 28 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Terra firma.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/terra%20firma. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.

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