earth
[noun]
Synonyms:
- world, globe, orb, planet, sphere
- soil, clay, dirt, ground, land, turf

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Related Words: orb, sphere, cosmos, creation, macrocosm, universe, vale, clay, gravel, humus, loam, mud, sand, fill, subsoil, terrain, turf, clod

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English Thesaurus: soil, earth, dirt, dust, mud, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. earth¹ S2 W2 /ɜːθ $ ɜːrθ/ noun
[Word Family: noun: earth, earthling, earthiness; adjective: earthy, earthly ≠ unearthly, earthen; verb: unearth; adverb: earthward(s)]
[Language: Old English; Origin: eorthe]

1. WORLD (also Earth) [singular, uncountable] the planet that we live on:
the planet Earth
the earth
The earth revolves around the sun.
the earth’s surface/atmosphere/crust etc
71% of the earth’s surface is sea.
on earth
the origin of life on Earth

2. SOIL [uncountable] the substance that plants grow in Synonym : soil
soft/bare/damp etc earth
footprints in the wet earth
a lump of earth

3. LAND [uncountable] the hard surface of the world, as opposed to the sea or air Synonym : ground:
The earth shook.
They watched the kite fall back to earth.

4. what/why/how etc on earth ...? spoken used to ask a question when you are very surprised or angry:
What on earth did you do that for?

5. cost/pay/charge the earth informal to cost etc a very large amount of money:
It must have cost the earth!

6. the biggest/tallest/most expensive etc ... on earth the biggest etc example of something that exists:
the most powerful man on earth

7. RELIGION [uncountable] used in religion to refer to the time when people are alive as opposed to being in heaven or hell:
Jesus’ time on earth ⇒ move heaven and earth at heaven(9), ⇒ hell on earth at hell¹(2)

8. come back/down to earth (with a bump) to stop behaving or living in a way that is not practical:
She soon brought him back down to earth.

9. no ... /nothing on earth used to emphasize that you mean nothing at all:
Nothing on earth would have persuaded me to go.
There’s no reason on earth why you should tell him.

10. look/feel etc like nothing on earth British English to look or feel very strange:
The next morning I felt like nothing on earth.

11. ELECTRICITY [countable usually singular] British English a wire that makes a piece of electrical equipment safe by connecting it with the ground Synonym : ground American English

12. ANIMAL’S HOME [countable] the hole where a wild animal such as a fox lives ⇒ den, lair

13. go to earth British English to hide in order to escape from someone who is chasing you Synonym : go to ground

14. run somebody/something to earth British English to find someone, especially by looking in many places
⇒ down-to-earth, ⇒ promise somebody the moon/the earth at promise¹(3), ⇒ the salt of the earth at salt¹(2)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. earth² verb [transitive]
British English to make electrical equipment safe by connecting it to the ground with a wire Synonym : ground American English:
Make sure that the machine is properly earthed.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

earth
noun
I. the world
VERB + EARTH orbit satellites orbiting the earth
EARTH + VERB orbit sth, revolve, rotate The earth orbits the sun. The earth revolves on its axis.
EARTH + NOUN tremor Furniture fell over as the room was shaken by an earth tremor.
sciences
PREP. above the ~ We are flying at 30,000 feet above the earth.
around/round the ~ the moon's orbit around the earth
on (the) ~ The island was there before there was life on earth.
to ~ The astronauts were able to send the information back to earth.
PHRASES the centre/surface of the earth, the earth's core/crust/mantle/surface, (the) planet earth

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

earth
II. soil
ADJ. bare The fields had been ploughed, and there was nothing but bare earth to be seen.
fertile | barren, infertile | soft | solid | damp, moist, wet | fresh, freshly-dug | loose I filled the pot with a handful of loose earth.
baked The sun beat down on the baked earth.
scorched The wreckage of the plane was scattered across the scorched earth.
chalky, sandy
QUANT. clod, clump, lump My boots were caked in big clods of wet earth.
EARTH + NOUN bank, mound I scrambled to the top of the steep earth bank.
PREP. in the ~ The plants must have their roots in the earth.
under the ~ in mines deep under the earth

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

earth

the Earth’s surface
Over seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean.
the Earth’s crust
Volcanoes and earthquakes occur where there is movement in the Earth’s crust.
the Earth’s core (=central part)
The Earth’s inner core is almost entirely composed of iron.
the Earth’s mantle (=parts around the central core)
the incredibly high temperatures and pressures deep within Earth’s mantle
the Earth’s atmosphere
The Earth’s atmosphere blocks off all radiation from space other than light and radio waves.
the Earth’s gravity
the continual pull of the Earth’s gravity on the Moon.
the Earth’s orbit
The rocket left the Earth's orbit and set off to Mars.
the Earth’s rotation
Has the Earth’s rotation always been the same?
the Earth’s axis
Over thousands of years, the direction of Earth’s axis slowly changes.
the Earth’s climate
The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has an influence on the Earth’s climate.
orbit
The Earth orbits the Sun once a year, and the Moon orbits the Earth approximately every 27 days.
revolve/rotate
Because of the direction in which the Earth revolves, the sun always rises in the east and sets in the west.
go round/around
Why does the Earth goes around the Sun?
Planet Earth
the origin of life on Planet Earth
soft
The wheels got stuck in the soft earth.
hard
It hadn’t rained for weeks and the earth was hard.
bare (=not covered by trees or grass)
There were no flowers or grass, just bare earth.
fertile
This earth is not fertile enough to produce crops.
freshly-dug
The poppy seeds were planted in the freshly-dug earth.
moist/damp
I slipped on the damp earth and fell over.
a mound of earth (=a pile of earth that looks like a small hill)
A mound of earth lay beside the grave.
a clod/clump of earth (=a lump of earth)
The horse’s hooves kicked up great clods of earth.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

earth
noun
1.
BAD: I have friends in different parts of the earth.
GOOD: I have friends in different parts of the world.
BAD: We must all work together to protect the earth.
GOOD: We must all work together to protect the planet.

Usage Note:
earth/Earth = the ball-shaped object that we live on, usually seen as a planet in space: 'The earth moves round the sun every 365 days.' 'On the journey back to Earth, one of the spaceship's computers failed.'
world = the ball-shaped object that we live on, usually seen in terms of people, countries, cities etc: 'Tuberculosis is still common in some parts of the world.' 'It's one of the largest countries in the world.' 'You'll be seeing some of the world's leading golfers.'
Note the expression all over the world (= everywhere in the world): 'I have friends all over the world.'
planet = the ball-shaped object that we live on, usually seen in terms of the natural environment: 'This disaster could affect the whole planet.' 'The planet is gradually getting warmer.'

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2.
BAD: The aliens were fascinated by life in earth.
GOOD: The aliens were fascinated by life on earth.
BAD: Mankind has lived in the earth for thousands of years.
GOOD: Mankind has lived on the earth for thousands of years.

Usage Note:
on (the) earth (NOT in (the) earth ): 'Australia has some of the strangest animals to be found anywhere on earth.' 'Peace on earth is still just a dream.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

soil the top layer of the earth that plants grow in:
Roses do best in well-drained, slightly acid soil.
earth the brown substance that the ground is made up of:
Thousands of tons of earth were moved to build the dam.
dirt American English loose dry earth:
a pile of loose dirt in the wheelbarrow
dust a dry powder made up of extremely small bits of earth or sand:
A cloud of dust billowed out behind the tractor.
mud wet soil that has become soft and sticky:
The dog came back covered in mud.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

earth
ə:θ
See: come back to earth or come down to earth , down-to-earth , in the world or on earth , move heaven and earth

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲