a landing strip

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A narrow, usually flat area of ground where small aircraft can land and take off.

   Grammar: Countable; use 'a' or 'the' and the plural 'landing strips'. Often used with 'on' or 'at': land on a landing strip.

   Patterns

   • a landing strip for something
   • land on a landing strip
   • build a landing strip

   The pilot brought the small plane down on a grassy landing strip.

   They built a landing strip near the village so supplies could arrive by air.

   The landing strip was too short for large jets.

2. 2nouncountableinformal

   A narrow strip of hair left on the pubic area, shaped like a runway.

   Grammar: Countable; usually singular in this sense. Often used with 'have' or 'wear': she has a landing strip.

   Patterns

   • have a landing strip
   • a landing strip of hair

   In the 2000s, some women chose a landing strip as a style of pubic hair removal.

   He joked that her landing strip looked like a small runway.

Word forms

Common combinations

a grassy landing strip

The club uses a grassy landing strip for gliders.

land on a landing strip

The rescue plane landed on a landing strip cut into the forest.

build a landing strip

Engineers built a landing strip on the remote island.

a dirt landing strip

The dirt landing strip was muddy after the rain.

Synonyms and how they differ

runway

A runway is a paved, official strip at an airport; a landing strip is usually simpler and may be unpaved.

airstrip

Very close in meaning; 'airstrip' is often used for a small, rough runway, while 'landing strip' emphasizes the act of landing.

Word family

land verb

To come down to the ground from the air.

landing noun

The act of coming down to the ground.

strip noun

A long, narrow piece of something.

Commonly confused: a landing strip or runway?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “a landing strip”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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