Meaning & use
living off the land
Last updated
Meanings
phraseidiom
Getting food and other necessities directly from nature, without buying them from shops.
Grammar: Used as a fixed phrase, often after verbs like be, go, or live. It describes a way of life.
Patterns
- be living off the land
- go living off the land
- survive by living off the land
They spent a year living off the land in the mountains, catching fish and picking berries.
The documentary shows a family living off the land in a remote forest.
Living off the land requires skills like hunting, foraging, and building shelter.
phraseidiom
Making a living by using local natural resources, such as farming, fishing, or forestry.
Grammar: Often used to describe communities or traditional ways of life.
Patterns
- make a living off the land
- live off the land
Many indigenous communities have lived off the land for generations.
After the factory closed, some people returned to living off the land.
He makes a living off the land, growing vegetables and raising chickens.
Common combinations
- live off the land
- They decided to live off the land for a month to test their survival skills.
- survive off the land
- The stranded hikers had to survive off the land until rescue arrived.
- living off the land full-time
- Living off the land full-time is not easy in modern society.
- a living-off-the-land lifestyle
- She adopted a living-off-the-land lifestyle after retiring.
Synonyms and how they differ
- self-sufficient
- Focuses on not needing outside help, but does not necessarily mean using wild nature; you can be self-sufficient with a garden.
- subsistence farming
- A more technical term for growing food just for yourself and your family, not for sale; it is a noun phrase, not an idiom.
Opposites
Commonly confused: living off the land or living on the land?
living off the land vs living on the land
This is not a standard idiom. 'Living off the land' is the fixed phrase for surviving from nature. 'Living on the land' could mean living on a piece of property.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'living off the land' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Living off the land' means getting food directly from nature, so growing vegetables and hunting fits. The other options involve buying food or working indoors, which do not match the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “living off the land”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.