earth

Less common meanings

8. 8
   planet like oursnouncountable or uncountable

   Any planet similar to our own, especially an exoplanet thought of as another earth or a possible one.

   Astronomers announced that the newly found planet could be a second earth, rocky and temperate.

   Of the thousands of exoplanets discovered, only a few look like true earths.

9. 9
   metal oxidenounobsoletecountable or uncountable

   Any of certain substances, now known to be metal oxides, that were once identified by their resistance to melting and their insolubility in water.

   Early chemists counted lime and magnesia among the earths, long before anyone knew they contained metals.

   Alumina was long classed as an earth before chemists showed that it contained a metal.

   Note

   Early chemists used it as a class name, grouping stubborn powders such as lime and magnesia together as the earths. The class broke up once these were shown to contain metals, but the word survives in two modern names: the alkaline earth metals, called after their oxides, and the rare earths. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Early chemists classified substances including lime and magnesia as earths. en.wikipedia.org
   • The historical classification was superseded when these substances were recognized as metal oxides. en.wikipedia.org
   • The name alkaline earth metals derives from their oxides, historically called earths. en.wikipedia.org
   • The name rare earths preserves the historical chemical sense of earth. en.wikipedia.org
10. 10
    electrical groundnounBritishcountable or uncountable

    An electrical connection to the ground, called a ground in the US, or the terminal on equipment that provides it.

    The shock came from a faulty kettle whose earth had come loose.

    Before fitting the cover, connect the green-and-yellow wire to the earth on the back of the socket.

    Similarground

11. 11
    connect to groundverbUKtransitive

    To connect an electrical circuit or device to the ground.

    Always earth the frame of the generator before connecting any tools to it.

    The buzzing stopped once the turntable had been properly earthed.

    UsageCommon patterns include be earthed and properly earthed. In American English, use ground (past participle grounded).

    Similarground

12. 12
    verbraretransitive

    To bury something or someone in the ground.

    The Miſer earths his Treaſure; and the Thief, / Watching the Mole, half-beggars him ere Morn.

    1745, [Edward Young], “Night the Ninth and Last. The Consolation. Containing, among Other Things, I. A Moral Survey of the Nocturnal…

    Similarbury

    Oppositeexhume

13. 13
    dennouncountable or uncountable

    A den or lair in a hole in the ground, used by an animal such as a fox.

    The vixen raised four cubs in an earth dug into the bank of the stream.

    Volunteers counted the active earths along the edge of the woods each spring.

    Similarden, lair, burrow

14. 14
    drive undergroundverbtransitive

    To hide in a hole or burrow in the ground, or to chase an animal into its burrow or den.

    When the hounds close in, a fox will try to earth in an old badger's burrow.

    By midmorning the fox was earthed, and the riders turned for home.

    Note

    Hunters use it of the fox driven into its den, often in the passive: Dryden's The Spanish Fryar has "the Fox is earth'd". John Mayer's The Sportsman's Directory names each beast at rest (the stag harbored, the buck lodged, the fox kenneled, the badger earthed), so earthed belongs to that vocabulary of the chase. When the animal goes to ground by itself, the verb takes no object and the fox simply earths. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • John Dryden wrote The Spanish Fryar. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Spanish Fryar contains the words “the Fox is earth'd”. en.wiktionary.org
    • John Mayer is the credited author of The Sportsman's Directory. upload.wikimedia.org
    • The Sportsman's Directory gives harboured, lodged, kennelled and earthed as the respective terms for the stag, buck, fox and badger at rest. upload.wikimedia.org
15. 15
    nounarchaiccountable or uncountable

    The physical body of a human being.

    Note

    An old poetic figure: it pictures flesh as made of the same stuff as the ground it returns to, so it gathers around talk of death and mortality. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Earth is an old poetic figure for the human body, associated with death. gutenberg.org
    • The imagery connects flesh with the earth to which it returns after death. en.wikisource.org
16. 16
    nounliterary

    A region of the world, such as a particular land or country.