EARTH

Meaning of EARTH in English

I. noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

cost a fortune/cost the earth (= have a very high price )

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If you use a lawyer, it will cost you a fortune.

earth mother

earth science

fuller's earth

heaven on earth

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Living on the farm for Jim was heaven on earth .

hell on earth

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He says his time in jail was hell on earth .

how on earth/in the world etc (= used for emphasis when you are surprised, angry etc )

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How on earth did you find out?

loose soil/earth

Mother Earth

scorched earth policy

the bowels of the earth (= deep under the ground )

the scum of the earth

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People like that are the scum of the earth .

vanish without (a) trace/vanish off the face of the earth (= disappear so that no sign remains )

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The youngster vanished without a trace one day and has never been found.

what on earth/in the world/in heaven’s name etc (= used for emphasis when you are surprised, angry etc )

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What on earth’s going on?

where on earth/in the world etc (= used for emphasis when you are surprised, angry etc )

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Where on earth have you been all this time?

who on earth/in the world etc (= used for emphasis when you are surprised, angry etc )

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Who on earth would live in such a lonely place?

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Who the hell are you?

why on earth/why ever etc (= used for emphasis when you are surprised, angry etc )

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Why on earth didn’t you ask me to help?

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‘I don’t want us to be seen together.’ ‘Why ever not?’

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

bare

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The floor was of bare earth , and a ring of wooden poles supported the roof.

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There is nothing to be seen on the spot but bare earth .

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A favourite site is a bare patch of earth where the surface has been baked into a crust by the harsh sun.

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Over the winter the distinctive bare earth is ground up and massed into sharp ruts by tractor tyres.

damp

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It was dark and smelt of damp earth .

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The mist was getting heavier; so, too, was the rank odor of damp earth .

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She pulled through the clutching shrubbery and skimmed back up the steps, realizing she was leaving footprints of damp earth .

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Four single bulbs under tin covers lit the entire station, and the air smelled of coal and damp earth .

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The air was soft and a little wet, and she enjoyed feeling the cool, damp dungy earth in her hands.

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Jack could smell the damp earth and the sweat from Evans's body.

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Benny was staring intently at a large worm wriggling on the pile of damp earth .

soft

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It pounded the soft earth and gurgled along the gutters to splash with relentless monotony into the tub outside the back door.

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She was pointing at a recess scraped in the soft earth and pine needles.

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I saw myself scooping out handfuls of soft loamy earth .

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He rolled as soon as he hit the soft earth and crashed into the base of a tree.

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Gradually, as they worked, their feet sank into the soft earth and wet mud oozed up between their toes.

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His hand closed over grass which was instantly torn from the soft earth and his boots were dislodged from their precarious footholds.

■ VERB

bring

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Newcastle were brought down to earth when Brendan O'Connell earned Barnsley a 1-0 victory.

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When Hercules came to the underworld he lifted Theseus from the seat and brought him back to earth .

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The next evening, the Thursday, I was brought back down to earth with a bump.

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Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth .

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These valuations are way over the top and it is time a lot of these councillors where brought down to earth .

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His high-fliers were brought crashing back to earth by a 3-0 Tranmere victory, however.

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It really does bring everything down to earth .

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Gently, making fun of me a little bit, bringing me back to earth .

cost

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In Coventry Sir William Lyons produced wonderful engineering and style-but he didn't believe his cars should cost the earth .

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He would miss seeing Harry and, besides, a weekend at some hotel would cost the earth .

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But ... but it must cost the earth .

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A well planned, well made kitchen that doesn't cost the earth .

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It would cost the earth , but it had to be safer than Nigel's Aston Martin.

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This is a flexible, well-designed machine which produces quality prints and doesn't cost the earth to print them.

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It's better than getting a locum in - they cost the earth and sometimes do more harm than good.

fall

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She wrote stories about angels fallen to earth .

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Within six seconds of the collision, one fell to earth among other aircraft, just below the point of impact.

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Thus she left them, and Metaneira fell speechless to the earth and all there trembled with fear.

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Mafouz fell heavily to earth amidst sudden, devastating silence.

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We saw the plane and heard the bombs falling to earth .

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Eventually, it will stop going up and will fall hack to earth .

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It crawled about outside the murmuring door and fell to the earth .

wonder

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In despair he wondered what on earth he was doing.

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All of which leaves many observers wondering what on earth is the appeal of such violent, repellent music.

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I wonder how on earth we worked the 1979 and 1983 elections without them.

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Not for the first time in the last twenty-four hours Kate wondered what on earth had happened to her child.

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A second later and Fabia was wondering what on earth she was thinking about.

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We wondered what on earth was happening.

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And Mains sat and wondered what on earth was going on.

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Doubts came rushing in as she stared at her reflection, wondering what on earth had possessed her to buy it.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

all quarters of the Earth/globe

disappear/vanish from/off the face of the earth

go to the ends of the earth

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Brad would go to the ends of the earth to make his wife happy.

move heaven and earth

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Bishop Auckland have also moved heaven and earth to improve their standing.

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If you knew what I was doing you'd have moved heaven and earth to stop me.

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So together we moved heaven and earth to ensure, in a difficult year, that the necessary money was made available.

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We've all experienced it and most of us would move heaven and earth to avoid it.

on the face of the earth

promise sb the moon/the earth

the four corners of the Earth/world

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For centuries, the Spanish traveled to the four corners of the Earth in search of new lands.

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Even to the four corners of the world. 38.

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He put the Celts at one of the four corners of the world.

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People from the four corners of the world have come to Ontario to make it their home.

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Scholars gathered wisdom and knowledge from the four corners of the world.

the fruits of the earth

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Consuming the fruits of the Earth unrestrained, we become consumed ourselves by avarice and greed.

the salt of the earth

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Robert D.. Raven is the salt of the earth.

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That he's the salt of the earth?

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The backbone of the nation, the salt of the earth.

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The homeless are not the salt of the earth.

this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England

wipe sth off the face of the earth/wipe sth off the map

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

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Outside, the sun beat down on the red baked earth of Provence.

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planet earth

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The message was freshly scratched in the earth .

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The temperature of the Earth 's core may be as high as 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Thousands of tons of earth were moved to build the dam.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

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A shaking of earth , sky, mind, all.

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Above the earth , below the earth, on the earth, like Alice, curiouser and curiouser.

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Born when the earth sleeps, yet Effie never seemed to rest and had soon worn out a rather fragile Marjorie.

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He bailed out at just the right time and floated the short distance to earth in a golden parachute.

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In this way, signals can be sent to it and bounced back to earth stations for reception.

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Then, suddenly, he was running, his arms flailing wildly, his bare feet thudding against the dark earth .

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When he returned to earth , he discovered that his father had died.

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With the industrial revolution, however, a better world did in fact arrive on earth .

II. verb