earth

• earth
• 1

  world

  also Earth [singular, uncountable] theplanet 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 [= 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 [= ground]:
• The earth shook.
• They watched the kite fall back to earth.

➔ see usage note ground1

• 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

  athell1 (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[= ground American English]
• 12

  animal's home

  [countable] the hole where a wild animal such as a foxlives [↪ den, lair]
• 13

  go to earth

  British English to hide in order to escape from someone who is chasing you [= 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

  atpromise1 (3)

  ➔ the salt of the earth

  at salt1 (2)
• WORD CHOICE: 
• 
  
• ground, land, earth, soil, floor
• The ground is the surface that you walk on when you are outdoors
• • There were a few flakes of snow on the ground.
• • an area of muddy ground
• land is an area of ground that is owned or controlled by someone
• • They were on his land.
• • land set aside for housing
• It is also the part of the earth's surface that is not covered in water
• • animals that live on land
• earth or soil is the soft substance that covers the ground and that plants grow in
• • Green shoots peeped through the earth.
• • fertile soil
• The Earth or earth is also the planet that we live on.
• The floor is the surface that you walk on when you are indoors
• • There's mud all over the floor!
• ➔ See also ground

Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.