see how the land lies - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

land

–noun

1.	any part of the earth's surface not covered by a body of water; the part of the earth's surface occupied by continents and islands: Land was sighted from the crow's nest.

2.	an area of ground with reference to its nature or composition: arable land.

3.	an area of ground with specific boundaries: to buy land on which to build a house.

4.	rural or farming areas, as contrasted with urban areas: They left the land for the city.

Law.

a.	any part of the earth's surface that can be owned as property, and everything annexed to it, whether by nature or by the human hand.

b.	any legal interest held in land.

6.	Economics. natural resources as a factor of production.

7.	a part of the surface of the earth marked off by natural or political boundaries or the like; a region or country: They came from many lands.

8.	the people of a region or country

9.	Audio. the flat surface between the grooves of a phonograph record.

10.	a realm or domain: the land of the living.

11.	a surface between furrows, as on a millstone or on the interior of a rifle barrel.

12.	Scot. a tenement house.

–verb (used with object)

13.	to bring to or set on land: to land passengers or goods from a ship; to land an airplane.

14.	to bring into or cause to arrive in a particular place, position, or condition: His behavior will land him in jail.

15.	Informal. to catch or capture; gain; win: to land a job.

16.	Angling. to bring (a fish) to land, or into a boat, etc., as with a hook or a net.

–verb (used without object)

17.	to come to land or shore: The boat lands at Cherbourg.

18.	to go or come ashore from a ship or boat.

19.	to alight upon a surface, as the ground, a body of water, or the like: to land on both feet.

20.	to hit or strike the ground, as from a height: The ball landed at the far side of the court.

21.	to strike and come to rest on a surface or in something: The golf ball landed in the lake.

22.	to come to rest or arrive in a particular place, position, or condition (sometimes fol. by up): to land in trouble; to land up 40 miles from home.

—Verb phrase

23.	land on, Informal. to reprimand; criticize: His mother landed on him for coming home so late.

—Idioms

24.	land on one's feet. foot (def. 40).

25.	see how the land lies, to investigate in advance; inform oneself of the facts of a situation before acting: You should see how the land lies before making a formal proposal. Compare lay of the land.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME (n. and v.), OE (n.); c. D, G, ON, Goth land; akin to Ir lann, Welsh llan church (orig. enclosure), Breton lann heath. See lawn¹

]

—Related forms

landlike, adjective

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Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
see how the land lies

to take a good look at the circumstances before making a decision

Arabic:	يَطَّلِع على مُجْريات الأمور
Chinese (Simplified):	弄清情况
Chinese (Traditional):	弄清情況
Czech:	občíhnout situaci
Danish:	se, hvordan landet ligger
Dutch:	kijken hoe de zaken ervoor staan
Estonian:	pinda sondeerima
Finnish:	tunnustella maaperää
French:	tâter le terrain
German:	die Lage peilen
Greek:	βολιδοσκοπώ
Hungarian:	kitapasztalja a helyzetet
Icelandic:	athuga hvernig landið liggur
Indonesian:	mempertimbangkan
Italian:	(vedere come stanno le cose)

Japanese:	形勢を見る
Latvian:	noskaidrot situāciju
Lithuanian:	gerai pasverti visas aplinkybes
Norwegian:	se hvor(dan) landet ligger, sondere terrenget
Polish:	zorientować się w sytuacji
Portuguese (Brazil):	sondar o terreno
Portuguese (Portugal):	ver de que lado sopra o vento
Romanian:	a tatona terenul
Russian:	изучать все обстоятельства
Slovak:	vedieť, odkiaľ vietor fúka
Slovenian:	pretipati teren
Spanish:	mirar de qué lado sopla el viento
Swedish:	se efter hur landet ligger
Turkish:	zemini yoklamak, durumu saptamak