Library / English Dictionary

LAND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Agriculture considered as an occupation or way of life

Example:

there's no work on the land any more

Synonyms:

farming; land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

business; job; line; line of work; occupation (the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The people who live in a nation or country

Example:

the whole country worshipped him

Synonyms:

country; land; nation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)

Meronyms (members of "land"):

national; subject (a person who owes allegiance to that nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "land"):

Dutch; Dutch people (the people of the Netherlands)

British; British people; Brits (the people of Great Britain)

English; English people (the people of England)

Irish; Irish people (people of Ireland or of Irish extraction)

French; French people (the people of France)

Spanish; Spanish people (the people of Spain)

Swiss; Swiss people (the natives or inhabitants of Switzerland)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A politically organized body of people under a single government

Example:

an industrialized land

Synonyms:

body politic; commonwealth; country; land; nation; res publica; state

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

political entity; political unit (a unit with political responsibilities)

Meronyms (parts of "land"):

estate; estate of the realm; the three estates (a major social class or order of persons regarded collectively as part of the body politic of the country (especially in the United Kingdom) and formerly possessing distinct political rights)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "land"):

commonwealth country (any of the countries in the British Commonwealth)

developing country (a country that is poor and whose citizens are mostly agricultural workers but that wants to become more advanced socially and economically)

Dominion (one of the self-governing nations in the British Commonwealth)

foreign country (any state of which one is not a citizen)

Reich (the German state)

renegade state; rogue nation; rogue state (a state that does not respect other states in its international actions)

suzerain (a state exercising a degree of dominion over a dependent state especially in its foreign affairs)

sea power (a nation that possesses formidable naval strength)

great power; major power; power; superpower; world power (a state powerful enough to influence events throughout the world)

city-state; city state (a state consisting of a sovereign city)

ally (a friendly nation)

Instance hyponyms:

Eelam; Tamil Eelam (the independent state that the Tamil Tigers have fought for)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The territory occupied by a nation

Example:

he visited several European countries

Synonyms:

country; land; state

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

administrative district; administrative division; territorial division (a district defined for administrative purposes)

Meronyms (parts of "land"):

demesne; domain; land (territory over which rule or control is exercised)

midland (the interior part of a country)

Meronyms (members of "land"):

department (the territorial and administrative division of some countries (such as France))

province; state (the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "land"):

banana republic (a small country (especially in Central America) that is politically unstable and whose economy is dominated by foreign companies and depends on one export (such as bananas))

country of origin; fatherland; homeland; mother country; motherland; native land (the country where you were born)

buffer country; buffer state (a small neutral state between two rival powers)

kingdom (a country with a king as head of state)

tax haven (a country or independent region where taxes are low)

European country; European nation (any one of the countries occupying the European continent)

African country; African nation (any one of the countries occupying the African continent)

Asian country; Asian nation (any one of the nations occupying the Asian continent)

South American country; South American nation (any one of the countries occupying the South American continent)

North American country; North American nation (any country on the North American continent)

sultanate (country or territory ruled by a sultan)

Instance hyponyms:

Antigua and Barbuda (a country in the northern Leeward Islands)

Cape Verde; Republic of Cape Verde (an island country in the Atlantic off the coast of Senegal)

Ceylon; Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka; Sri Lanka (a republic on the island of Ceylon; became independent of the United Kingdom in 1948)

Comoros; Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros (a country on the Comoro Islands)

Cuba; Republic of Cuba (a communist state in the Caribbean on the island of Cuba)

Haiti; Republic of Haiti (a republic in the West Indies on the western part of the island of Hispaniola; achieved independence from France in 1804; the poorest and most illiterate nation in the western hemisphere)

Dominican Republic (a republic in the West Indies; located on the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola)

Jamaica (a country on the island of Jamaica; became independent of England in 1962; much poverty; the major industry is tourism)

Barbados (a parliamentary democracy on the island of Barbados; former British colony; a popular resort area)

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad and Tobago (an island republic in the West Indies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1962)

Cyprus; Republic of Cyprus (a country on the island of Cyprus; 80% of the people are of Greek origin and 20% or Turkish origin)

Commonwealth of Dominica; Dominica (a country on the island of Dominica)

East Timor (a former Portuguese colony that was annexed by Indonesia in 1976; voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999 and in May 2002 became an independent nation)

Fiji; Republic of Fiji (an independent state within the British Commonwealth located on the Fiji Islands)

Israel; Sion; State of Israel; Yisrael; Zion (Jewish republic in southwestern Asia at eastern end of Mediterranean; formerly part of Palestine)

Etruria (an ancient country in central Italy; assimilated by the Romans by about 200 BC)

Australia; Commonwealth of Australia (a nation occupying the whole of the Australian continent; Aboriginal tribes are thought to have migrated from southeastern Asia 20,000 years ago; first Europeans were British convicts sent there as a penal colony)

Federated States of Micronesia; Micronesia; TT (a country scattered over Micronesia with a constitutional government in free association with the United States; achieved independence in 1986)

Marshall Islands; Republic of the Marshall Islands (a republic (under United States protection) on the Marshall Islands)

Tuvalu (a small island republic on the Tuvalu islands; formerly part of the British colony of Gilbert and Ellice Islands until it withdrew in 1975 and became independent of the United Kingdom in 1978)

Kiribati; Republic of Kiribati (an island republic in the west central Pacific just to the south of the equator)

Nauru; Republic of Nauru (an island republic on Nauru Island; phosphate exports support the economy)

Independent State of Papua New Guinea; Papua New Guinea (a parliamentary democracy on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea; in 1975 it became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations)

Bahama Islands; Bahamas; Commonwealth of the Bahamas (island country in the Atlantic to the east of Florida and Cuba; a popular winter resort)

Burkina Faso; Upper Volta (a desperately poor landlocked country in western Africa; was formerly Upper Volta under French rule but gained independence in 1960)

Dutch East Indies; Indonesia; Republic of Indonesia (a republic in southeastern Asia on an archipelago including more than 13,000 islands; achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1945; the principal oil producer in the Far East and Pacific regions)

Grenada (an island state in the West Indies in the southeastern Caribbean Sea; an independent state within the British Commonwealth)

Maldives; Republic of Maldives (a republic on the Maldive Islands; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1965)

Malta; Republic of Malta (a republic on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1964)

Mauritius; Republic of Mauritius (a parliamentary state on the island of Mauritius)

New Zealand (an independent country within the British Commonwealth; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1907; known for sheep and spectacular scenery)

Palau; Republic of Palau; TT (a republic in the western central Pacific Ocean in association with the United States)

Philippines; Republic of the Philippines (a republic on the Philippine Islands; achieved independence from the United States in 1946)

Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Christopher-Nevis; Saint Kitts and Nevis; St. Christopher-Nevis; St. Kitts and Nevis (a country on several of the Leeward Islands; located to the east southeast of Puerto Rico; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1983)

Saint Lucia; St. Lucia (a country on the island of Saint Lucia; gained independence from Great Britain in 1979)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; St. Vincent and the Grenadines (an island country in the central Windward Islands; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1979)

Independent State of Samoa; Samoa; Samoa i Sisifo; Western Samoa (a constitutional monarchy on the western part of the islands of Samoa in the South Pacific)

Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe; Sao Thome e Principe; Sao Tome and Principe; Sao Tome e Principe; St. Thomas and Principe (island nation in the South Atlantic off the west coast of Africa; achieved independence from Portugal in 1975; has enormous offshore oil reserves)

Republic of Seychelles; Seychelles (a republic on the Seychelles islands; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1976)

Solomon Islands (the southern Solomon Islands that since 1978 form an independent state in the British Commonwealth)

Rus (the medieval Russian state established by Scandinavian traders in the 9th century; the capital was first in Novgorod and then in Kiev)

Russia; Soviet Union; Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; USSR (a former communist country in eastern Europe and northern Asia; established in 1922; included Russia and 14 other soviet socialist republics (Ukraine and Byelorussia and others); officially dissolved 31 December 1991)

Russia; Russian Federation (a federation in northeastern Europe and northern Asia; formerly Soviet Russia; since 1991 an independent state)

Ukraine; Ukrayina (a republic in southeastern Europe; formerly a European soviet; the center of the original Russian state which came into existence in the ninth century)

Turkmen; Turkmenia; Turkmenistan; Turkomen (a republic in Asia to the east of the Caspian Sea and to the south of Kazakhstan and to the north of Iran; an Asian soviet from 1925 to 1991)

Friendly Islands; Kingdom of Tonga; Tonga (a monarchy on a Polynesian archipelago in the South Pacific; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1970)

Republic of Turkey; Turkey (a Eurasian republic in Asia Minor and the Balkans; on the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the Young Turks, led by Kemal Ataturk, established a republic in 1923)

New Hebrides; Republic of Vanuatu; Vanuatu (a volcanic island republic in Melanesia; independent since 1980)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Territory over which rule or control is exercised

Example:

he made it the law of the land

Synonyms:

demesne; domain; land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

region (a large indefinite location on the surface of the Earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "land"):

archduchy (the domain controlled by an archduke or archduchess)

barony (the domain of a baron)

duchy; dukedom (the domain controlled by a duke or duchess)

earldom (the domain controlled by an earl or count or countess)

emirate (the domain controlled by an emir)

empire; imperium (the domain ruled by an emperor or empress; the region over which imperial dominion is exercised)

fiefdom (the domain controlled by a feudal lord)

grand duchy (the domain controlled by a grand duke or grand duchess)

viscounty (the domain controlled by a viscount or viscountess)

khanate (the realm of a khan)

kingdom; realm (the domain ruled by a king or queen)

princedom; principality (territory ruled by a prince)

sheikdom; sheikhdom (the domain ruled by a sheik)

suzerainty (the domain of a suzerain)

Holonyms ("land" is a part of...):

country; land; state (the territory occupied by a nation)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The solid part of the earth's surface

Example:

he dropped the logs on the ground

Synonyms:

dry land; earth; ground; land; solid ground; terra firma

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Part meronym:

earth; globe; world (the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "land"):

archipelago (a group of many islands in a large body of water)

beachfront (a strip of land running along a beach)

cape; ness (a strip of land projecting into a body of water)

coastal plain (a plain adjacent to a coast)

floor (the ground on which people and animals move about)

foreland (land forming the forward margin of something)

forest; timber; timberland; woodland (land that is covered with trees and shrubs)

island (a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water)

isthmus (a relatively narrow strip of land (with water on both sides) connecting two larger land areas)

land mass; landmass (a large continuous extent of land)

mainland (the main land mass of a country or continent; as distinguished from an island or peninsula)

neck (a narrow elongated projecting strip of land)

oxbow (the land inside an oxbow bend in a river)

peninsula (a large mass of land projecting into a body of water)

champaign; field; plain (extensive tract of level open land)

slash (an open tract of land in a forest that is strewn with debris from logging (or fire or wind))

wonderland (a place or scene of great or strange beauty or wonder)

Instance hyponyms:

America (North America and South America and Central America)

Derivation:

land (reach or come to rest)

land (cause to come to the ground)

land (shoot at and force to come down)

land (arrive on shore)

land (bring ashore)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use)

Example:

good agricultural soil

Synonyms:

ground; land; soil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "land"):

badlands (deeply eroded barren land)

bottom; bottomland (low-lying alluvial land near a river)

coastland (land in a coastal area)

cultivated land; farmland; ploughland; plowland; tillage; tilled land; tilth (arable land that is worked by plowing and sowing and raising crops)

overburden (the surface soil that must be moved away to get at coal seams and mineral deposits)

permafrost (ground that is permanently frozen)

polder (low-lying land that has been reclaimed and is protected by dikes (especially in the Netherlands))

rangeland (land suitable for grazing livestock)

scablands ((geology) flat elevated land with poor soil and little vegetation that is scarred by dry channels of glacial origin (especially in eastern Washington))

greensward; sod; sward; turf (surface layer of ground containing a mat of grass and grass roots)

wetland (a low area where the land is saturated with water)

Sense 8

Meaning:

United States inventor who incorporated Polaroid film into lenses and invented the one step photographic process (1909-1991)

Synonyms:

Din Land; Edwin Herbert Land; Land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

industrialist (someone who manages or has significant financial interest in an industrial enterprise)

artificer; discoverer; inventor (someone who is the first to think of or make something)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use

Example:

the family owned a large estate on Long Island

Synonyms:

acres; demesne; estate; land; landed estate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

immovable; real estate; real property; realty (property consisting of houses and land)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "land"):

freehold (an estate held in fee simple or for life)

glebe (plot of land belonging to an English parish church or an ecclesiastical office)

leasehold (land or property held under a lease)

smallholding (a piece of land under 50 acres that is sold or let to someone for cultivation)

homestead (land acquired from the United States public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating it under the homestead law)

feoff; fief (a piece of land held under the feudal system)

barony (the estate of a baron)

countryseat (an estate in the country)

Crown land (land that belongs to the Crown)

manor (the landed estate of a lord (including the house on it))

seigneury; seigniory; signory (the estate of a seigneur)

hacienda (a large estate in Spanish-speaking countries)

plantation (an estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale (especially in tropical areas))

entail (land received by fee tail)

Sense 10

Meaning:

The land on which real estate is located

Example:

he built the house on land leased from the city

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

immovable; real estate; real property; realty (property consisting of houses and land)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "land"):

farmstead (the buildings and adjacent grounds of a farm)

homestead (the home and adjacent grounds occupied by a family)

no man's land (land that is unowned and uninhabited (and usually undesirable))

Sense 11

Meaning:

A domain in which something is dominant

Example:

the rise of the realm of cotton in the south

Synonyms:

kingdom; land; realm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("land" is a kind of...):

area; arena; domain; field; orbit; sphere (a particular environment or walk of life)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "land"):

lotus land; lotusland (an idyllic realm of contentment and self-indulgence)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Bring into a different state

Example:

this may land you in jail

Synonyms:

bring; land

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "land" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reach or come to rest

Example:

The plane landed in Istanbul

Synonyms:

land; set down

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "land" is one way to...):

arrive; come; get (reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "land"):

alight; light; perch (to come to rest, settle)

force-land (make a forced landing)

beach (land on a beach)

port (land at or reach a port)

debark; disembark; set down (go ashore)

touch down (come or bring (a plane) to a landing)

undershoot (fall short of (the runway) in a landing)

belly-land (land on the underside without the landing gear)

crash land (make an emergency landing)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The airplane is sure to land

Derivation:

land (the solid part of the earth's surface)

lander (a space vehicle that is designed to land on the moon or another planet)

landing (the act of coming down to the earth (or other surface))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to come to the ground

Example:

the pilot managed to land the airplane safely

Synonyms:

bring down; land; put down

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "land" is one way to...):

arrive; come; get (reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress)

Cause:

land; set down (reach or come to rest)

Domain category:

air; air travel; aviation (travel via aircraft)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

land (the solid part of the earth's surface)

landing (the act of coming down to the earth (or other surface))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Shoot at and force to come down

Example:

the enemy landed several of our aircraft

Synonyms:

down; land; shoot down

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

land (the solid part of the earth's surface)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Arrive on shore

Example:

The ship landed in Pearl Harbor

Synonyms:

land; set ashore; shore

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "land" is one way to...):

arrive; come; get (reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

land (the solid part of the earth's surface)

landing (the act of coming to land after a voyage)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Bring ashore

Example:

The drug smugglers landed the heroin on the beach of the island

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "land" is one way to...):

bring; convey; take (take something or somebody with oneself somewhere)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "land"):

ground; run aground; strand (bring to the ground)

strand (drive (a vessel) ashore)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

land (the solid part of the earth's surface)

landing (the act of coming to land after a voyage)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Deliver (a blow)

Example:

He landed several blows on his opponent's head

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "land" is one way to...):

deliver; drive home (carry out or perform)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

Coarse grass and rank weeds straggled over all the marshy land in the vicinity.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Scarcely had we passed the heads before the land closed around us.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Ah, she replied, the way is so long, and what shall I do in a strange land where I am unknown?

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The European Space Agency's (ESA) spacecraft will become the first to orbit a comet and land a probe on its nucleus.

(Rosetta closing in on comet, NASA)

"When the Witch is dead, come to me, and I will then give you the biggest and kindest and most loving heart in all the Land of Oz."

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Seventy percent of forest lands are within a half-mile of forest edges.

(Shrinking habitats have adverse effects on world ecosystems, NSF)

He felt as if he had been transported to Fairy-land and enjoyed a happiness seldom tasted by man.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The discovery of past land and shallow seas now provides an explanation.

(Scientists return from expedition to lost continent of Zealandia, National Science Foundation)

During March, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.53°F (0.85°C) above the 20th century average.

(March 2015 and first quarter of year warmest on record, NOAA)

You can inhale the spores or they can land on you.

(Fungal Infections, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)