land

land on your feet: see fall on your feet atfoot.

how the land lies what the state of affairs is.

in the land of the living alive or awake. humorous

☞ This is a biblical idiom: see, for example, Job 28:13: 'Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living' or Psalms 52:5: 'God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living'.

land of Nod a state of sleep.

☞ In the Bible, the Land of Nod was the place to which Cain was exiled after the murder of his brother Abel (Genesis 4:16). It has been used punningly to refer to sleep since the 18th century, notably by Jonathan Swift in Polite Conversation (1731–8): 'I'm going to the Land of Nod'.

live off the land (or the country) live on whatever food you can obtain by hunting, gathering, or subsistence farming.

2012New Statesman Even today in what were the most populous areas it is easy to live off the land. All along the coast and rivers there were extensive stone fish traps. They didn't store food because it was so abundant!

never-never land: seenever.

no man's land: seeno.