Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - land

~1 n 1 »NOT SEA« the solid dry part of the Earth's surface  (After 21 days at sea we sighted land. | by land)  (It's quicker by land than sea. | on land)  (The crocodile lays its eggs on land.) 2 »GROUND« ground, especially when used for farming or building on  (the use and management of land | fertile land | high land prices.) 3 »COUNTRY« especially literary a country  (people of many lands | native land (=the land where you were born))  (She returned at last to her native land.) 4 »NOT CITY« the land the countryside thought of as a place that is quiet and peaceful, or as a place where people grow food  (We want to leave London and get back to the land. | live off the land (=grow or catch all the food you need)) 5 »PROPERTY« also lands plural the area of land that someone owns  (Get off my land! | The Duke's lands lay south of the mountains.) 6 see/find out how the land lies to try to discover what the situation really is before you make a decision 7 in the land of the living spoken humorous awake  (Now you're back in the land of the living you can put the kettle on.) 8 land of milk and honey an imaginary place where life is easy and pleasant 9 the land of nod old-fashioned an expression meaning sleep, used especially when talking to children  (- see also be/live in cloud-cuckoo-land cloud1 (6), dry land, the lie of the land lie3 (3))  ( USAGE NOTE: LAND WORD CHOICE world, earth, land, ground, floor, soil, country When you are talking about the world as a whole, compared with other planets, you often call it the Earth (or the earth) From space, the earth looks like a shining blue ball. But in some phrases the is not usually used Billions of people live on earth (NOT usually on the earth and definitely NOT in the earth). The hard surface of the world, when it is compared with the area covered by sea, is called land , but when you are comparing it with the air you say the ground or, on a larger scale, (the) earth After a week adrift at sea, we spotted land. | The horse fell to the ground. | I won't relax until we're safely back on the ground. | Once a meteor from outer space fell to earth here. | The earth shook and huge cracks appeared. Inside a building the surface you walk on is usually called the floor (but it is called the ground outside) The dishes crashed to the kitchen floor. | The ground's too wet for camping. An area thought of as property is a piece of land the high price of land in Tokyo | He owns a lot of land in New Mexico (NOT earth or ground or big land). Also when you are talking about large areas, especially when it is used for a particular purpose, you say land The land isn't much good for raising corn. | Much of the land here is used for industry. A smaller area is likely to be called a piece of ground a small piece of ground where I could plant potatoes | a patch of waste ground behind the house The substance that plants grow in is soil or earth or (AmE) dirt The soil/earth is pretty good here. | The kids were playing on a mound of dirt in the yard. But when you are talking about its quality, type, or condition, you usually use soil soil erosion | To improve clay soil, dig in as much sand as you can. Land that is not covered in buildings is the country, often compared with the town or city Why don't we take a trip to the country and get some fresh air? (NOT land). You call a country a land only if you want to communicate a particular meaning. In a story, perhaps, or to show your feelings about a country you might say My homeland/native land is India (=that is the country I feel I belong to).| He visited many foreign lands (=strange and mysterious countries). Compare this with the following, which is a report of simple facts I come from India. | He visited many foreign countries. ) ~2 v 1 »PLANE« if an aircraft lands or if a pilot lands it, it moves down onto the ground  (We are due to land at Heathrow at 12.50.) 2 »ARRIVE BY BOAT/PLANE« to arrive somewhere in an aircraft, boat etc  (1969, when the first men landed on the moon) 3 »GOODS/PEOPLE« to put something or someone on land from an aircraft or boat  (Troops were landed by helicopter. | Trawlers were landing their catch at the harbour.) 4 »FALL/COME DOWN« to come down through the air onto something + in/on/under etc  (Louis fell out of the tree and landed in a holly bush.) I felt a few drops of rain landing on my head. 5 »PROBLEMS« to be given to someone unexpectedly, and cause problems that they will have to deal with + in/on/under etc  (Just when I thought my problems were over, this letter landed on my desk.) 6 »JOB/CONTRACT ETC« informal to succeed in getting a job, contract etc that was difficult to get  (Fay landed a plum job with the BBC. | land yourself sth)  (Bill's just landed himself a part in a Broadway show.) 7 »FISH« to catch a large fish 8 land a punch/blow to succeed in hitting someone  (- see also fall/land on your feet foot1 (17)) land sb in sth phr v 1 land sb in trouble/hospital/court etc to cause serious problems for someone  (We all knew his drinking would land him in court one day.) 2 land sb in it spoken to get someone into trouble by saying that they did something wrong  (Micky landed me in it by saying I was the last one to use the photocopier.) land on sb phr v AmE informal to speak angrily to someone  (Dale landed on him for forgetting the documents.) land up phr v informal to finally get into a particular place, situation, or position after a lot of things have happened to you  (land up in/on etc)  (We landed up in a bar at 3 am. | Be careful that you don't land up in serious debt.) land sb with sth phr v T usually passive informal to give someone something unpleasant to do, because no one else wants to do it  (Maria's been landed with all the tidying up as usual.)