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park

Syllabification: (park)
Pronunciation: /pärk/
Translate park | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of park

noun

  • 1a large public green area in a town, used for recreation:a walk around the park
  • a large area of land kept in its natural state for public recreational use.
  • (also wildlife park) a large enclosed area of land used to accommodate wild animals in captivity.
  • North American a stadium or enclosed area used for sports.
  • a large enclosed piece of ground, typically with woodland and pasture, attached to a large country house:the house is set in its own park
  • (in the western US) a broad, flat, mostly open area in a mountainous region.
  • 2 [with adjective or noun modifier] an area devoted to a specified purpose:an industrial park
  • chiefly British a parking lot or garage:a coach park
  • 3(in a car with automatic transmission) the position of the gear selector in which the gears are locked, preventing the vehicle’s movement.

verb

[with object]
  • bring (a vehicle that one is driving) to a halt and leave it temporarily, typically in a parking lot or by the side of the road:he parked his car outside her house [no object]:he couldn’t find anywhere to park
  • informal deposit and leave in a convenient place until required:come on in, and park your bag by the door
  • (park oneself in/on) informal sit down on or in:after dinner, we parked ourselves on a pair of couches
  • informal postpone consideration of (an idea or plan) until a later date:could I suggest we park that suggestion for the moment?

Phrases

a walk in the park

see walk.

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French parc, from medieval Latin parricus, of Germanic origin; related to German Pferch 'pen, fold', also to paddock. The word was originally a legal term designating land held by royal grant for keeping game animals: this was enclosed and therefore distinct from a forest or chase, and (also unlike a forest) had no special laws or officers. A military sense 'space occupied by artillery, wagons, stores, etc., in an encampment' (late 17th century) is the origin of the verb sense (mid 19th century) and of sense 2 of the noun (early 20th century)

park in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of park in the British & World English dictionary
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