land
1 of 2noun
ˈland 
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
ˈland-ləs
adjective landlessness
ˈland-ləs-nəs
noun land
2 of 2verb
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
Synonyms
Noun
- commonwealth
- country
- nation
- sovereignty
- sovranty
- state
Verb
- anchor
- dock
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
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
Keven Lerner, Sun Sentinel, 5 Sep. 2022 Earl could bring heavy rain to the islands and gusty winds, but the strongest winds were expected to stay on the northern and eastern sides of the storm and away from land. Leigh Morgan, al, 4 Sep. 2022 Authorities said Patterson did not have enough flight experience to know how to land and another pilot was brought in to talk Patterson through the process. Arkansas Online, 4 Sep. 2022 The director was incredibly lucky to land Clarkson, a master of meaningful microexpressions, who excels at speaking volumes without opening her mouth. Peter Debruge, Variety, 3 Sep. 2022 The man shot a large adult brown bear between about 9 and 10 a.m. in an area near Ship Creek and up the valley from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson land, Stantorf said. Tess Williams, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Sep. 2022 Navigating ambiguity and judging who’s being truthful is a key part of the jobs many graduates of schools like SAIS hope to land. Jennifer Conrad, WIRED, 1 Sep. 2022 Some computer models show Earl strengthening into a hurricane over the weekend in the north Atlantic, far away from land. Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2022 Since June 2021, most applicants have had to wait at least several months for passports to land in their hands. Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2022 Amir Vera, CNN, 6 Sep. 2022 Once again, the company was able to land the first stage booster, which flew for the seventh time. Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Sep. 2022 Negotiators made contact with the pilot and convinced him to land at the airport. Sarah Rumpf, Fox News, 3 Sep. 2022 But, with some instruction from a private pilot, Patterson was able to land the plane about 30 minutes later. CBS News, 3 Sep. 2022 Handshake, an online job portal for college students who want to land a job after graduation, will hold a virtual job fair in October highlighting careers in education. Trisha Powell Crain | Tcrain@al.com, al, 31 Aug. 2022 If Michael Andretti is able to land approval to enter a new 11th team in Formula 1, the program will be headquartered in Fishers. Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Aug. 2022 Detroiters seeking to land a job at sea can get free training through a maritime jobs fair later this month. Emma Stein, Detroit Free Press, 18 Aug. 2022 This helped Toprak land her dream job of working with Hans Zimmer at what was then known as Media Ventures International. Meimei Fox, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022 See More
Noun
Monday, Danielle was almost 1,000 miles away from land in the northern Atlantic Ocean and moving northeast at 7 mph. Keven Lerner, Sun Sentinel, 5 Sep. 2022 Earl could bring heavy rain to the islands and gusty winds, but the strongest winds were expected to stay on the northern and eastern sides of the storm and away from land. Leigh Morgan, al, 4 Sep. 2022 Authorities said Patterson did not have enough flight experience to know how to land and another pilot was brought in to talk Patterson through the process. Arkansas Online, 4 Sep. 2022 The director was incredibly lucky to land Clarkson, a master of meaningful microexpressions, who excels at speaking volumes without opening her mouth. Peter Debruge, Variety, 3 Sep. 2022 The man shot a large adult brown bear between about 9 and 10 a.m. in an area near Ship Creek and up the valley from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson land, Stantorf said. Tess Williams, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Sep. 2022 Navigating ambiguity and judging who’s being truthful is a key part of the jobs many graduates of schools like SAIS hope to land. Jennifer Conrad, WIRED, 1 Sep. 2022 Some computer models show Earl strengthening into a hurricane over the weekend in the north Atlantic, far away from land. Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2022 Since June 2021, most applicants have had to wait at least several months for passports to land in their hands. Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2022 Verb
Quaka said negotiators from Tupelo Police contacted Patterson and convinced him to land the plane at Tupelo airport. Amir Vera, CNN, 6 Sep. 2022 Once again, the company was able to land the first stage booster, which flew for the seventh time. Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Sep. 2022 Negotiators made contact with the pilot and convinced him to land at the airport. Sarah Rumpf, Fox News, 3 Sep. 2022 But, with some instruction from a private pilot, Patterson was able to land the plane about 30 minutes later. CBS News, 3 Sep. 2022 Handshake, an online job portal for college students who want to land a job after graduation, will hold a virtual job fair in October highlighting careers in education. Trisha Powell Crain | Tcrain@al.com, al, 31 Aug. 2022 If Michael Andretti is able to land approval to enter a new 11th team in Formula 1, the program will be headquartered in Fishers. Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Aug. 2022 Detroiters seeking to land a job at sea can get free training through a maritime jobs fair later this month. Emma Stein, Detroit Free Press, 18 Aug. 2022 This helped Toprak land her dream job of working with Hans Zimmer at what was then known as Media Ventures International. Meimei Fox, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022 See More 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
Phrases Containing land
Kids Definition
land 1 of 2
noun
ˈland
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
2 of 2verb
landed; landing
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
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 rights California Public Resources Code
California Public Resources Code Biographical Definition
Land
biographical name
ˈland
Edwin Herbert 1909–1991 American inventor and industrialist
land 1 of 2
noun
1
as in state
a body of people composed of one or more nationalities usually with its own territory and government the whole land rose up in outrage over the tyrant's unconscionable cruelties Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- state
- nation
- country
- kingdom
- commonwealth
- sovereignty
- province
- empire
- republic
- homeland
- domain
- soil
- sovranty
- dominion
- settlement
- realm
- sovereign
- colony
- democracy
- principality
- seigniory
- duchy
- ministate
- fatherland
- monarchy
- dictatorship
- emirate
- sea power
- trust territory
- power
- dukedom
- motherland
- condominium
- mandate
- city-state
- world power
- microstate
- sultanate
- nation-state
- dependency
- theocracy
- oligarchy
- superpower
- welfare state
- sovran
- great power
- monocracy
- seignory
- client state
2
as in region
a broad geographical area the land to the west was said to have incredibly rich soil and plentiful water Synonyms & Similar Words
- region
- neck
- tract
- part(s)
- zone
- territory
- corridor
- belt
- district
- domain
- terrain
- realm
- vicinity
- range
- neighborhood
- latitude(s)
3
as in soil
the solid part of our planet's surface as distinguished from the sea and air it's always good to be back on dry land after a long boat ride Synonyms & Similar Words
- soil
- ground
- earth
- continent
- island
- dirt
- dust
- zone
- landmass
- mainland
- peninsula
- terra firma
- isthmus
land
2 of 2verb
1
as in to ground
to stop at or near a place along the shore the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth after exploring Cape Cod Bay Synonyms & Similar Words
- ground
- dock
- moor
- anchor
- make port
- arrive
- berth
- beach
- tie up
- harbor
- reach
- debark
- disembark
- show up
- turn up
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- sail
- launch
- embark
2
as in to arrive
to get to a destination we landed at the hotel just before midnight Synonyms & Similar Words
- arrive
- come
- get through
- appear
- get in
- show up
- turn up
- reach
- fetch
- touch down
- hit
- make
- disembark
- pull in
- debark
- blow in
- check in
- burst (in or into)
- breeze (in)
- barge (in)
- waltz (in)
- clock (in)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- leave
- go
- flee
- clock (out)
- check out
- vamoose
3
as in to dock
to go ashore from a ship the passengers on the cruise landed at St. George in Bermuda Synonyms & Similar Words
- dock
- disembark
- beach
- debark
- put in
- anchor
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- get (on)
- board
- embark
- weigh (anchor)
4
as in to perch
to come to rest after descending from the air our plane is landing in 15 minutes, so we need to put all of our things away Synonyms & Similar Words
- perch
- light
- touch down
- roost
- settle
- alight
- belly-land
- crash-land
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- plane
- rise
- arise
- wing
- fly
- take off
- climb
- ascend
- float
- blast off
- glide
- soar
- hover
- hang
5
as in to gain
to receive as return for effort because of his work on the boss's pet project, he landed a promotion as well as a raise Synonyms & Similar Words
- gain
- win
- earn
- reap
- make
- get
- obtain
- garner
- acquire
- secure
- attain
- procure
- capture
- realize
- pull down
- draw
- carry
- bag
- come by
- achieve
- net
- bring in
- knock down
- occupy
- gross
- score
- accomplish
- accumulate
- annex
- regain
- amass
- clear
- rack up
- recapture
- remake
- reacquire
- catch
- take over
- pick up
- notch (up)
- reattain
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- lose
- forfeit
- pay
- grant
- give
- yield
- surrender
- accord
- relinquish
- give up
- part (with)
- hand over
6
as in to grab
to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly after struggling for half an hour, the fisherman finally landed a 10-pound bass Synonyms & Similar Words
- grab
- seize
- snatch
- catch
- get
- net
- capture
- trap
- snag
- snare
- bag
- corral
- hook
- nab
- rap
- grapple
- collar
- nail
- cop
- bay
- corner
- hold
- nobble
- secure
- fist
- rope
- grasp
- grip
- glove
- glom
- arrest
- take hold (of)
- kidnap
- wrest
- snap (up)
- clutch
- mesh
- lasso
- detain
- abduct
- halter
- apprehend
- rend
- clasp
- ensnare
- immesh
- latch (on or onto)
- entrap
- entangle
- fasten (on)
- enmesh
- spirit (away or off)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- miss
- free
- discharge
- release
- liberate
- drop
- loosen
- unhand