EARTH

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does earth mean? 

• EARTH (noun)
  The noun EARTH has 7 senses:

1. the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on

2. the loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface

3. the solid part of the earth's surface

4. the abode of mortals (as contrasted with Heaven or Hell)

5. once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles)

6. the concerns of this life as distinguished from heaven and the afterlife

7. a connection between an electrical device and a large conducting body, such as the earth (which is taken to be at zero voltage)

  Familiarity information: EARTH used as a noun is common.

• EARTH (verb)
  The verb EARTH has 2 senses:

1. hide in the earth like a hunted animal

2. connect to the earth

  Familiarity information: EARTH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EARTH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

earth; globe; world

Context example:

he sailed around the world

Instance hypernyms:

terrestrial planet (a planet having a compact rocky surface like the Earth's; the four innermost planets in the solar system)

Holonyms ("earth" is a member of...):

solar system (the sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field)

Derivation:

earthling (an inhabitant of the earth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

earth; ground

Context example:

they dug into the earth outside the church

Hypernyms ("earth" is a kind of...):

material; stuff (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "earth"):

moraine (accumulated earth and stones deposited by a glacier)

diatomaceous earth; diatomite; kieselguhr (a light soil consisting of siliceous diatom remains and often used as a filtering material)

saprolite (a deposit of clay and disintegrating rock that is found in its original place)

dirt; soil (the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock)

Derivation:

earth (connect to the earth)

earth (hide in the earth like a hunted animal)

earthy (of or consisting of or resembling earth)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The solid part of the earth's surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

dry land; earth; ground; land; solid ground; terra firma

Context example:

he dropped the logs on the ground

Hypernyms ("earth" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Part meronym:

earth; globe; world (the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "earth"):

wonderland (a place or scene of great or strange beauty or wonder)

slash (an open tract of land in a forest that is strewn with debris from logging (or fire or wind))

champaign; field; plain (extensive tract of level open land)

peninsula (a large mass of land projecting into a body of water)

oxbow (the land inside an oxbow bend in a river)

neck (a narrow elongated projecting strip of land)

mainland (the main land mass of a country or continent; as distinguished from an island or peninsula)

land mass; landmass (a large continuous extent of land)

isthmus (a relatively narrow strip of land (with water on both sides) connecting two larger land areas)

island (a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water)

forest; timber; timberland; woodland (land that is covered with trees and shrubs)

foreland (land forming the forward margin of something)

floor (the ground on which people and animals move about)

coastal plain (a plain adjacent to a coast)

cape; ness (a strip of land projecting into a body of water)

beachfront (a strip of land running along a beach)

archipelago (a group of many islands in a large body of water)

Instance hyponyms:

America (North America and South America and Central America)

Derivation:

earth (connect to the earth)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The abode of mortals (as contrasted with Heaven or Hell)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Context example:

it was hell on earth

Hypernyms ("earth" is a kind of...):

location (a point or extent in space)

Derivation:

earthly (of or belonging to or characteristic of this earth as distinguished from heaven)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("earth" is a kind of...):

element (one of four substances thought in ancient and medieval cosmology to constitute the physical universe)

Domain usage:

archaicism; archaism (the use of an archaic expression)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The concerns of this life as distinguished from heaven and the afterlife

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

earth; earthly concern; world; worldly concern

Context example:

they consider the church to be independent of the world

Hypernyms ("earth" is a kind of...):

concern (something that interests you because it is important or affects you)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A connection between an electrical device and a large conducting body, such as the earth (which is taken to be at zero voltage)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

earth; ground

Hypernyms ("earth" is a kind of...):

connecter; connection; connective; connector; connexion (an instrumentality that connects)

Domain category:

electricity (a physical phenomenon associated with stationary or moving electrons and protons)

• EARTH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they earth    ... he / she / it earths   
Past simple: earthed   
Past participle: earthed   
-ing form: earthing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hide in the earth like a hunted animal

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "earth" is one way to...):

hide; hide out (be or go into hiding; keep out of sight, as for protection and safety)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

earth (the loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Connect to the earth

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

earth the circuit

Hypernyms (to "earth" is one way to...):

ground (connect to a ground)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

earth (the solid part of the earth's surface)

earth (the loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface)

earthing (fastening electrical equipment to earth)

 Context examples 

His majesty had given orders, that the island should move north-east and by east, to the vertical point over Lagado, the metropolis of the whole kingdom below, upon the firm earth.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

My feet are on the solid earth, now.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Having Venus in a fellow earth sign is great for fun and love and also for refreshing your looks.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Heaven and earth!—of what are you thinking?

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

“How on earth—” I began, but Holmes answered my question before it was asked.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Earth just happened to be in close proximity to the right kind of supernova, making it unusually lucky.

(Finding Alien Life Unlikely Due to Lack of Phosphorus in Universe, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

She is the very image of my dead wife: unless I have her, I shall not find any bride upon the whole earth, and you say there must be a queen.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Earth's surface falls locally when it is weighed down with water and rebounds when the weight disappears.

(Sierras Lost Water Weight, Grew Taller During Drought, NASA)

Understanding the conditions that lead to the formation of ice is an active quest in the environmental and earth sciences, physics, chemistry, biology and engineering.

(Scientists probe the limits of ice, National Science Foundation)

For example, all the silver, nickel, and copper in the earth and even in our bodies came from the explosive death throes of stars

(Kepler Catches Early Flash of an Exploding Star, NASA)