Land (l nd), Edwin Herbert 1909-1991. American inventor who developed (1932) the light-polarizing plastic film called Polaroid and incorporated it into lenses for cameras and sunglasses. He also invented the one-step photographic process (1947). |
| land (lnd) n. 1. The solid ground of the earth. 2. a. Ground or soil: tilled the land. b. A topographically or functionally distinct tract: desert land; prime building land. 3. a. A nation; a country. b. The people of a nation, district, or region. c. lands Territorial possessions or property. 4. Public or private landed property; real estate. 5. Law a. A tract that may be owned, together with everything growing or constructed on it. b. A landed estate. 6. a. An agricultural or farming area: wanted to buy a house on the land. b. Farming considered as a way of life: "The 'back to the land movement' began a couple years ago at the peak of South Korea's economic development and has roots in environmentalism and Buddhist philosophy." (Michael Baker). 7. An area or realm: the land of make-believe; the land of television. 8. The raised portion of a grooved surface, as on a phonograph record. v. land·ed, land·ing, lands v.tr. 1. a. To bring to and unload on land: land cargo. b. To set (a vehicle) down on land or another surface: land an airplane smoothly; land a seaplane on a lake. 2. Informal To cause to arrive in a place or condition: Civil disobedience will land you in jail. 3. a. To catch and pull in (a fish): landed a big catfish. b. Informal To win; secure: land a big contract. 4. Informal To deliver: landed a blow on his opponent's head. v.intr. 1. a. To come to shore: landed against the current with great difficulty. b. To disembark: landed at a crowded dock. 2. To descend toward and settle onto the ground or another surface: The helicopter has landed. 3. Informal To arrive in a place or condition: landed at the theater too late for the opening curtain; landed in trouble for being late. 4. To come to rest in a certain way or place: slipped and landed on his shoulder. [Middle English, from Old English; see lendh- in Indo-European roots.] |
lands [lændz]
pl n
1. holdings in land
2. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Agriculture) South African the part of a farm on which crops are grown
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