Land, n. [AS. land, lond;
akin to D., G., Icel., Sw., Dan., and Goth. land. ]
1. The solid part of the surface of the earth; -
- opposed to water as constituting a part of such surface, especially
to oceans and seas; as, to sight land after a long
voyage.
They turn their heads to sea, their sterns to
land.
Dryden.
2. Any portion, large or small, of the
surface of the earth, considered by itself, or as belonging to an
individual or a people, as a country, estate, farm, or
tract.
Go view the land, even Jericho.
Josh. ii. 1.
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a
prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
Goldsmith.
☞ In the expressions "to be, or dwell, upon land,"
"to go, or fare, on land," as used by Chaucer,
land denotes the country as distinguished from the town.
A poor parson dwelling upon land [i.e., in the
country].
Chaucer.
3. Ground, in respect to its nature or
quality; soil; as, wet land; good or bad
land.
4. The inhabitants of a nation or
people.
These answers, in the silent night received,
The king himself divulged, the land believed.
Dryden.
5. The mainland, in distinction from
islands.
6. The ground or floor. [Obs.]
Herself upon the land she did
prostrate.
Spenser.
7. (Agric.) The ground left unplowed
between furrows; any one of several portions into which a field is
divided for convenience in plowing.
8. (Law) Any ground, soil, or earth
whatsoever, as meadows, pastures, woods, etc., and everything annexed
to it, whether by nature, as trees, water, etc., or by the hand of
man, as buildings, fences, etc.; real estate. Kent.
Bouvier. Burrill.
9. (Naut.) The lap of the strakes in a
clinker-built boat; the lap of plates in an iron vessel; -- called
also landing. Knight.
10. In any surface prepared with
indentations, perforations, or grooves, that part of the surface
which is not so treated, as the level part of a millstone between the
furrows, or the surface of the bore of a rifled gun between the
grooves.
Land agent, a person employed to sell or let
land, to collect rents, and to attend to other money matters
connected with land. -- Land boat, a
vehicle on wheels propelled by sails. -- Land
blink, a peculiar atmospheric brightness seen from sea
over distant snow-covered land in arctic regions. See Ice
blink. -- Land breeze. See under
Breeze. -- Land chain. See
Gunter's chain. -- Land crab
(Zoöl.), any one of various species of crabs which
live much on the land, and resort to the water chiefly for the
purpose of breeding. They are abundant in the West Indies and South
America. Some of them grow to a large size. -- Land
fish a fish on land; a person quite out of place.
Shak. -- Land force, a military force
serving on land, as distinguished from a naval force. --
Land, ho! (Naut.), a sailor's cry in
announcing sight of land. -- Land ice, a
field of ice adhering to the coast, in distinction from a floe.
-- Land leech (Zoöl.), any one of
several species of blood-sucking leeches, which, in moist, tropical
regions, live on land, and are often troublesome to man and
beast. -- Land measure, the system of
measurement used in determining the area of land; also, a table of
areas used in such measurement. -- Land, or
House, of bondage, in Bible history,
Egypt; by extension, a place or condition of special oppression.
-- Land o' cakes, Scotland. --
Land of Nod, sleep. -- Land of
promise, in Bible history, Canaan: by extension, a
better country or condition of which one has expectation. --
Land of steady habits, a nickname sometimes
given to the State of Connecticut. -- Land
office, a government office in which the entries upon,
and sales of, public land are registered, and other business
respecting the public lands is transacted. [U.S.] --
Land pike. (Zoöl.) (a)
The gray pike, or sauger. (b) The
Menobranchus. -- Land service, military
service as distinguished from naval service. -- Land
rail. (Zoöl) (a) The crake
or corncrake of Europe. See Crake. (b)
An Australian rail (Hypotænidia Phillipensis); --
called also pectoral rail. -- Land
scrip, a certificate that the purchase money for a
certain portion of the public land has been paid to the officer
entitled to receive it. [U.S.] -- Land shark,
a swindler of sailors on shore. [Sailors' Cant] --
Land side (a) That side of
anything in or on the sea, as of an island or ship, which is turned
toward the land. (b) The side of a plow
which is opposite to the moldboard and which presses against the
unplowed land. -- Land snail
(Zoöl.), any snail which lives on land, as
distinguished from the aquatic snails are Pulmonifera, and belong to
the Geophila; but the operculated land snails of warm countries are
Diœcia, and belong to the Tænioglossa. See
Geophila, and Helix. -- Land
spout, a descent of cloud and water in a conical form
during the occurrence of a tornado and heavy rainfall on land. -
- Land steward, a person who acts for another
in the management of land, collection of rents, etc. --
Land tortoise, Land turtle
(Zoöl.), any tortoise that habitually lives on dry
land, as the box tortoise. See Tortoise. -- Land
warrant, a certificate from the Land Office,
authorizing a person to assume ownership of a public land.
[U.S.] -- Land wind. Same as Land breeze
(above). -- To make land (Naut.),
to sight land. To set the land, to see
by the compass how the land bears from the ship. -- To
shut in the land, to hide the land, as when fog, or an
intervening island, obstructs the view.