land

land1 [ lænd ] noun ***

1. ) uncount an area that someone owns, often including the buildings on it. You can also refer to someone's lands, and this has the same meaning:

The company bought the land last year.

Some of his land had been flooded.

Their ancient tribal lands have been taken away.

a vacant plot of land (=piece of land)

a ) uncount an area of ground, especially one used for a particular purpose such as farming or building:

the land around here is pretty flat

acres of agricultural land

b ) count or uncount an area where the soil has particular qualities:

Most of the world's fertile land is already being cultivated.

2. ) uncount the part of the Earth's surface that is not the ocean:

The boxes eventually drifted to land after being in the sea for a week.

Swans are graceful swimmers, but they're clumsy on land.

3. ) count LITERARY a country or region:

the mountains of distant lands

The news quickly spread throughout the land.

land of: a land of wondrous wildlife and sweeping beauty

Many people emigrated to Canada believing that it was a land of opportunity.

a ) an imaginary place:

the land of make-believe

He's living in a fantasy land.

=> COUNTRY, LAND OF MILK AND HONEY

4. ) the land the countryside considered as a place to grow your own food or live in a simple healthy way:

go back to the land: They left the city and went back to the land to raise their children.

live off the land (=depend on the food you grow): The lack of rain has already hurt many people who live off the land.

find out/see how the land lies

to find out about a situation before deciding what to do:

You should see how the land lies before going into business on your own.

in the land of the living HUMOROUS

awake:

I see you're back in the land of the living.

=> NO-MAN'S-LAND

land

land 2 [ lænd ] verb ***

▸ 1 arrive/bring

▸ 2 come down to ground

▸ 3 get something you wanted

▸ 4 be in bad situation

▸ 5 catch fish

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) intransitive to arrive at a place by plane or boat:

It was after midnight by the time we landed.

a ) intransitive land on/in to arrive somewhere, especially unexpectedly or in a way that causes problems:

The whole family landed on my doorstep for the weekend.

Thousands of letters a week were landing on his desk.

b ) transitive if a plane or boat lands people or goods somewhere, it brings them there:

Motorboats landed supplies along the beaches.

2. ) intransitive if an aircraft lands, it comes down to the ground:

The plane landed a couple of hours before dawn.

a ) intransitive to come down to the ground or to a surface after moving or falling through the air:

She was uninjured after landing in the snow.

land on/in/under: The hawk landed on a fence post near the road.

b ) transitive to bring a plane down to the ground:

The pilot was able to land the plane safely.

3. ) transitive to get something that you wanted, especially a job or opportunity:

At age 19 she landed a small role in a Broadway play.

land a job: He was hoping to land the job on a permanent basis.

4. ) land or land up intransitive or transitive INFORMAL to be in an unpleasant situation or place, or to cause someone to be in an unpleasant situation or place:

land in: She landed up in the hospital with a broken leg.

land someone in something: His recklessness could land him in prison.

a ) land someone in it BRITISH INFORMAL to cause problems for someone, especially by talking about what they have said or done

5. ) transitive to catch a fish and pull it out of the water

land a punch/blow

to succeed in hitting someone:

He landed a punch on Jackson's nose.

=> FOOT1

`land on phrasal verb transitive AMERICAN INFORMAL

land on someone to criticize someone severely:

He really landed on me for being late.

`land with phrasal verb transitive usually passive MAINLY BRITISH INFORMAL

land someone with something to give someone an unpleasant job that no one else wants to do:

John was landed with the job of sorting Susan's files when she left.