park

plural parks

1. An area of land set aside for environment preservation or recreation.
   1. A tract of ground kept in its natural state, about or adjacent to a residence, such as for the preservation of game, for walking, riding, or the like.

      She went to the park for a jog with him.

      1 more example

      17th century, Edmund Waller, At Penshurst While in the park I sing, the listening deer / Attend my passion, and forget to fear.

   2. A piece of ground in or near a city or town, enclosed and kept for ornament and recreation.

      Hyde Park in London; Central Park in New York

      2 more examples

      If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.

      1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

      I roamed the streets and parks, as far removed from the idea of art and pretense as I could take myself, discovering there the kind of truth I was supposed to be setting down on paper…

      1994, Robert Ferro, The Blue Star

      Synonyms: courtyard, garden, plaza

   3. An enclosed parcel of land stocked with animals for hunting, which one may have by prescription or royal grant.
2. USA wide, flat-bottomed valley in a mountainous region.

   The so-called park is a very broad, open valley,between the Sangre de Cristo range on the east, and the volcanic San Juan and Conejos ranges on the west

   1897, The Colliery Engineer, volume 17, page 207

   4 more examples

   The mountain region thus limited consists of extensive and often level-floored valleys, sometimes many miles broad, and elevated 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea, called "parks" in local topography, which are interposed between innumerable rocky mountain ridges ....

   1878, The San Francisco Western Lancet. a Journal of Practical Medicine and Surgery, volume 7, number 3

   High Park is a depression of 10 or 12 square miles in extent […] at a general elevation of 7,500 feet. Its smooth floor is partly due to volcanic tuff of the western volcanic area, but chielfly to a find lake-bed deposit of yellowish sandstone....

   1895, Whitman Cross, Richard Alexander Fullerton Penrose, Geology and Mining Industries of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado, page 54

   ...the ridges flatten and, higher up, before reaching the upper snow-fields of the mountain, broaden out into high plateaus, the beautiful so-called parks or meadows.

   1911, Edward W. Harnden, “A Western Mountaineering Summer”, in Appalachia, volume XII, number 3

   Several structural basins, so-called "parks" within the crystalline rocks, are underlain by alluvial and terrace deposits, and in some cases, by Tertiary sediments.

   1975, Frits Van der Leeden, Lawrence A. Cerrillo, David William Miller, Ground-water pollution problems in the Northwestern United States

3. An area used for specific purposes.
   1. An open space occupied by or reserved for vehicles, matériel or stores.

      a wagon park; an artillery park

   2. A partially enclosed basin in which oysters are grown.
   3. An area zoned for a particular (industrial or commercial) purpose.

      business park; industrial park; science park

      1 more example

      Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."

      2013 June 21, Chico Harlan, “Japan pockets the subsidy …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 30

   4. An area on which a sporting match is played; (soccer) a pitch.

      But because of their dominance in the middle of the park and the sheer volume of chances, Sunderland boss Steve Bruce must have been staggered and sickened in equal measure when the visitors took the lead five minutes after the break.

      2010 December 28, Owen Phillips, “Sunderland 0-2 Blackpool”, in BBC

4. UKAn inventory of matériel.

   A country's tank park or artillery park.

5. AustraliaNew ZealandcolloquialA space in which to leave a car; a parking space.

   2003, “Johnny”, "Melbourne Blackout", in Sleazegrinder (editor), Gigs from Hell: True Stories from Rock and Roll′s Frontline, page 174, We got to the 9ᵗʰ Ward and as luck would have it I found a park for my bro′s car right out the front.

   2 more examples

   Once they′d entered the floors of parking spaces, James found a park relatively easily, but Mark had difficulty, and only a swift sprint allowed him to catch up as James walked through the throngs of people in the casino with the determination of a man who didn′t want to be delayed.

   2010, Sandy Curtis, Dangerous Deception, Australia: Clan Destine Press, unnumbered page

   We finally found a park and walked a few blocks to the building.

   2011, Antonia Magee, The Property Diaries: A Story of Buying a House, Finding a Man and Making a Home … All on a Single Income!, John Wiley & Sons Australia, unnumbered page

6. automotiveThe gear into which one shifts an automatic transmission when one is parking a car or truck. (Denoted with symbol P on a shifter's labeling.)

   If a car seems to be refusing to let you shift out of park, recall that many cars have a safety interlock which requires that your foot must be pressing on the brake pedal before you can shift out of park.

present singular third person parks · participle present parking · participle past parked · past parked

1. transitiveTo bring (something such as a vehicle) to a halt or store in a specified place.

   You can park the car in front of the house.

   2 more examples

   I parked the drive heads of my hard disk before travelling with my laptop.

   Parking is by app, which (when it works) is good. But £7.70 to park is extortionate, so GTR needs to look at reducing that.

   2025 October 15, 'Mystery Shopper', “About Anglia... and high scores”, in RAIL, number 1046, page 53

   Antonyms: unpark

2. figurativelyinformaltransitiveTo defer (a matter) until a later date.

   Let's park that until next week's meeting.

   1 more example

   The Harry Potter spin-off prequel series Fantastic Beasts has been “parked” by Warner Bros, according to its director David Yates.

   2023 October 27, “Fantastic Beasts: JK Rowling franchise has been ‘parked’, director says”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

3. transitiveTo bring together in a park, or compact body.

   to park artillery, wagons, automobiles, etc.

4. transitiveTo enclose in a park, or as in a park.

   O, negligent and heedless discipline! How are we park'd and bounded in a pale, A little herd of England's timorous deer, Mazed with a yelping kennel of French curs!

   1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

5. transitiveball gamesTo hit a home run; to hit the ball out of the park.

   He really parked that one.

6. USintransitiveslangTo engage in romantic or sexual activities inside a nonmoving vehicle that was driven to a suitable spot for that purpose.

   They stopped at a romantic overlook, shut off the engine, and parked.

   5 more examples

   "What did you do after that?" he asked. - "Went parking over at Silver Lake," replied Betty without hesitation. "Why?" - "I just wondered. Have fun?" "As a matter of fact, I did. Marty's a swell dancer." "That's not what I meant." "What did you mean?" - "I mean after. Parking." - "Yes I did […]"

   1956, Grace Metalious, Peyton Place, page 199

   A. Well, I had heard that it was used for parking place, but I never went parking there. Q. Excuse me? A. I had heard that it had been used for a parking place, but I had never gone parking there. Q. When you say “Parking place,” what do you mean? A. With a guy and a girl.

   1968, “People vs. Hawkins”, in Records & Briefs New York State Appellate Division, page 861

   The Phyllis and me go "parking." This is a very American thing to me, this "parking,” but Phyllis says that this is what couples in this country do when they are dating. We can't go to her house because her parents are there which is okay with me. / We are parking on a quiet street and we get in the backseat of my car. We begin to kiss and I start to feel her body.

   1996, Joseph Tropiano, Stanley Tucci, Big Night: A Novel with Recipes, page 37

   Tim and I never went parking when we were dating, but now that we've been married, it's been a fun date once in a while. (OK, we never actually leave the driveway, but the car was still parked.)

   2001, Tamyra Horst, Ratty Bathrobes, Cranky Kids, and Other Romantic Moments, page 47

   They were parking out near the hills. It's a popular spot for submarine races. They went for a little moonlit stroll. I'm sure they had nightmares after what they saw. Mary Alice was hanging from a tree by her bare feet. Naked.

   2001, James Patterson, Violets Are Blue

7. informalreflexivesometimestransitiveTo sit, recline, or put, especially in a manner suggesting an intent to remain for some time.

   Park your bags in the hall.

   3 more examples

   He came in and parked himself in our living room.

   "Entertain M. Paul while I go and get my shoes. I parked 'em under a rosebush."

   1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page vii. 59

   [S]o I rode home on my brand new tricycle to find the rest of the family parked in front of the box.

   1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 87

8. transitivebusinessTo invest money temporarily in an investment instrument considered to relatively free of risk, especially while awaiting other opportunities.

   We decided to park our money in a safe, stable, low-yield bond fund until market conditions improve.

9. InternetTo register a domain name, but make no use of it (See domain parking)
10. transitiveoyster cultureTo enclose in a park, or partially enclosed basin.
11. datedintransitiveTo promenade or drive in a park.
12. datedintransitiveTo display style or gait on a park drive.

1. An English surname.
2. A river in central Connecticut.
3. A number of other places in the United States, including:
   1. A township in Sedgwick County, Kansas.
   2. A township in Ottawa County, Michigan.
   3. A township in St. Joseph County, Michigan.
   4. A township in Pine County, Minnesota.

      Synonyms: Hog

4. A village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland (Irish grid ref C 5802).
5. A large area of Lewis, Western Isles council area, Scotland.
6. A community and ward in Merthyr Tydfil borough, Wales.

plural Parks

1. A surname from Korean. Alternative form of Bak.

   " I can't believe that this is happening in America," Park told NPR in an interview prior to his departure.

   2025 June 24, Juliana Kim, “Purple Heart Army veteran self-deports after nearly 50 years in the U.S.”, in NPR, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2025

   1 more example

   Centring on the tension between the Kims, a basement-dwelling family of “dirt spoons” in Seoul, and the Parks, a family at the opposite end of the social spectrum, Parasite’s plot is predicated on the widening gap between the haves and the have nots in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.

   2020 February 16, Justin McCurry, Nemo Kim, “Parasite: how Oscar triumph has exposed South Korea’s social divide”, in The Observer, archived from the original on 10 Apr 2022