n.
- An area of land set aside for public use, as:
- A piece of land with few or no buildings within or adjoining a town, maintained for recreational and ornamental purposes.
- A landscaped city square.
- A large tract of rural land kept in its natural state and usually reserved for the enjoyment and recreation of visitors.
- A broad, fairly level valley between mountain ranges: the high parks of the Rocky Mountains.
- A tract of land attached to a country house, especially when including extensive gardens, woods, pastures, or a game preserve.
- Sports. A stadium or an enclosed playing field: a baseball park.
- An area where military vehicles or artillery are stored and serviced.
- The materiel kept in such an area.
- An area in or near a town designed and usually zoned for a certain purpose: a commercial park.
- A position in an automatic transmission that disengages the gears and sets the brake so the vehicle cannot move: put the car in park and turned off the engine.
v., parked, park·ing, parks. v.tr.
- To put or leave (a vehicle) for a time in a certain location.
- Aerospace. To place (a spacecraft or satellite) in a usually temporary orbit.
- Informal. To place or leave temporarily: parked the baby with neighbors; parking cash in a local bank account.
- To assemble (artillery or other equipment) in a military park.
- To park a motor vehicle: pulled over and parked next to the curb.
- Slang. To engage in kissing and caressing in a vehicle stopped in a secluded spot.
[Middle English, game preserve, enclosed tract of land, from Old French parc, of Germanic origin.]
parker park'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
