LAN /læ n/ (LANs ) N‑COUNT A LAN is a group of personal computers and associated equipment that are linked by cable, for example in an office building, and that share a communications line. LAN is an abbreviation for 'local area network'. [COMPUTING ] □ You can take part in multiplayer games either on a LAN network or via the internet.
lance /lɑː ns, læ ns/ (lances , lancing , lanced )
1 VERB [usu passive] If a boil on someone's body is lanced , a small cut is made in it so that the liquid inside comes out. [MEDICAL ] □ [have n V -ed] It is a painful experience having the boil lanced. [Also be V -ed]
2 N‑COUNT A lance is a long spear used in former times by soldiers on horseback. □ …the clang of lances striking armour.
land ◆◆◆ /læ nd/ (lands , landing , landed )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Land is an area of ground, especially one that is used for a particular purpose such as farming or building. □ Good agricultural land is in short supply. □ …160 acres of land. □ …a small piece of grazing land.
2 N‑COUNT You can refer to an area of land which someone owns as their land or their lands . □ Their home is on his father's land. □ His lands were poorly farmed.
3 N‑SING If you talk about the land , you mean farming and the way of life in farming areas, in contrast to life in the cities. □ Living off the land was hard enough at the best of times.
4 N‑UNCOUNT [oft the N ] Land is the part of the world that consists of ground, rather than sea or air. □ It isn't clear whether the plane went down over land or sea. □ …a stretch of sandy beach that was almost inaccessible from the land.
5 N‑COUNT You can use land to refer to a country in a poetic or emotional way. [LITERARY ] □ …America, land of opportunity.
6 VERB When someone or something lands , they come down to the ground after moving through the air or falling. □ [V ] Three mortar shells had landed close to a crowd of people.
7 VERB When someone lands a plane, ship, or spacecraft, or when it lands , it arrives somewhere after a journey. □ [V ] The jet landed after a flight of just under three hours. □ [V n] The crew finally landed the plane on its belly on the soft part of the runway.
8 VERB To land goods somewhere means to unload them there at the end of a journey, especially by ship. [mainly BRIT ] □ [V n] The vessels will have to land their catch at designated ports.
9 VERB If you land in an unpleasant situation or place or if something lands you in it, something causes you to be in it. [INFORMAL ] □ [V + in ] He landed in a psychiatric ward. □ [V n + in ] This is not the first time his exploits have landed him in trouble.
10 VERB If someone or something lands you with a difficult situation, they cause you to have to deal with the difficulties involved. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V n + with ] The other options simply complicate the situation and could land him with more expense.
11 VERB If something lands somewhere, it arrives there unexpectedly, often causing problems. [INFORMAL ] □ [V prep/adv] Two days later the book had already landed on his desk.
12 VERB If you land something that is difficult to get and that many people want, you are successful in getting it. [INFORMAL ] □ [V n] He landed a place on the graduate training scheme. □ [V n n] His flair with hair soon landed him a part-time job at his local barbers.
13 to land on your feet → see foot
▸ land up PHRASAL VERB If you say that you land up in a place or situation, you mean that you arrive there after a long journey or at the end of a long series of events. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V P prep/adv] Half of those who went east seem to have landed up in southern India. □ [V P prep/adv] We landed up at the Las Vegas at about 6.30.
land|ed /læ nd I d/ ADJ [ADJ n] Landed means owning or including a large amount of land, especially land that has belonged to the same family for several generations. □ Most of them were the nobility and the landed gentry.
land|fall /læ ndfɔːl/ (landfalls ) N‑VAR Landfall is the act of arriving somewhere after a journey at sea, or the land that you arrive at. □ By the time we had made landfall the boat looked ten years older!
land|fill /læ ndf I l/ (landfills )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Landfill is a method of getting rid of very large amounts of rubbish by burying it in a large deep hole. □ …the environmental costs of landfill.
2 N‑COUNT [oft N n] A landfill is a large deep hole in which very large amounts of rubbish are buried. □ The rubbish in modern landfills does not rot. □ …the cost of disposing of refuse in landfill sites.
land|form /læ ndfɔrm/ (landforms ) also land form N‑COUNT A landform is any natural feature of the Earth's surface, such as a hill, a lake, or a beach. □ This small country has an amazing variety of landforms. □ …glacial land forms.
land|ing /læ nd I ŋ/ (landings )
1 N‑COUNT In a house or other building, the landing is the area at the top of the staircase which has rooms leading off it. □ I ran out onto the landing.
2 N‑VAR A landing is an act of bringing an aircraft or spacecraft down to the ground. □ [+ into ] I had to make a controlled landing into the sea. □ [+ at ] The plane had been cleared for landing at Brunswick's Glynco Airport.