ground

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) The surface of the Earth, as opposed to the sky or water or underground.
2. (uncountable) Terrain.
3. (countable, uncountable) Soil, earth.
4. (countable) The bottom of a body of water.
5. (countable, uncountable) Basis, foundation, groundwork, legwork.
6. (countable, in-plural, uncountable) Reason, (epistemic) justification, cause.
7. (countable, uncountable) Background, context, framework, surroundings.
8. (countable, historical, uncountable) The area on which a battle is fought, particularly as referring to the area occupied by one side or the other. Often, according to the eventualities, "to give ground" or "to gain ground".
9. (broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable) Advantage given or gained in any contest; e.g. in football, chess, debate or academic discourse.
10. (countable, in-compounds, uncountable) A place suited to a specified activity.
11. (countable, uncountable) The plain surface upon which the figures of an artistic composition are set.
12. (countable, uncountable) A flat surface upon which figures are raised in relief.
13. (countable, uncountable) The net of small meshes upon which the embroidered pattern is applied.
14. (countable, uncountable) A gummy substance spread over the surface of a metal to be etched, to prevent the acid from eating except where an opening is made by the needle.
15. (countable, in-plural, uncountable) One of the pieces of wood, flush with the plastering, to which mouldings etc. are attached.
16. (UK, countable) A soccer stadium.
17. (countable, uncountable) An electrical conductor connected to the earth, or a large conductor whose electrical potential is taken as zero (such as a steel chassis).
18. (Philippines, countable, uncountable) Electric shock.
19. (countable) The area of grass on which a match is played (a cricket field); the entire arena in which it is played; the part of the field behind a batsman's popping crease where he can not be run out (hence to make one's ground).
20. (countable, uncountable) A composition in which the bass, consisting of a few bars of independent notes, is continually repeated to a varying melody.
21. (countable, uncountable) The tune on which descants are raised; the plain song.
22. (countable, uncountable) The pit of a theatre.
23. (India, countable, obsolete, uncountable) Synonym of munny (“land measure”).

Verb

1. (US) To connect (an electrical conductor or device) to a ground.
2. (Philippines) To electrocute.
3. (transitive) To punish, especially a child or teenager, by forcing them to stay at home and/or give up certain privileges.
4. (transitive) To forbid (an aircraft or pilot) to fly.
5. To give a basic education in a particular subject; to instruct in elements or first principles.
6. To place a bat or part of the body on the ground to avoid being run out.
7. To hit a ground ball. Compare fly (verb (regular)) and line (verb).
8. To place something on the ground.
9. (intransitive) To run aground; to strike the bottom and remain fixed.
10. To found; to fix or set, as on a foundation, reason, or principle; to furnish a ground for; to fix firmly.
11. To cover with a ground, as a copper plate for etching, or as paper or other materials with a uniform tint as a preparation for ornament.
12. To improve or focus the mental or emotional state of.
13. To complement a machine learning model with relevant information it was not trained on.

Verb

simple past and past participle of grind

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Crushed, or reduced to small particles.
2. (not-comparable) Processed by grinding.

grind

• Verb
• Noun
• Noun

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Synonyms

earth

soil

land

base

dirt

basis

reason

foundation

cause

bottom

field

floor

terrain

pounded

area

found

occasion

sand

run aground

footing

crushed

world

🗺️

pretext

establish

terra firma

bed

🛏️

strand

territory

region

background

pulverized

yard

country

surface

powdered

priming

mashed

milled

undercoat

grounding

excuse

grounds

dust

plot

argument

Earth

groundwork

rubbed

lawn

motive

Translations

terre

sol

tierra

suelo

Boden

Grund

suolo

terra

Erde

terra

terra

grond

terrain

terreno

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡɹaʊnd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: grounde

Inherited from Old English: grund

Cognate with Western Frisian: grûn

Cognate with Dutch: grond

Cognate with German: Grund

In summary

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem-der.
Proto-Germanic *grunduz
Old English grund
Middle English ground
English ground
From Middle English ground, from Old English grund, from Proto-West Germanic *grundu, from Proto-Germanic *grunduz. Cognate with West Frisian grûn, Dutch grond and German Grund.

Sentences

He reached over and picked up a shell from the ground .

There is a person kneeling on the ground .

I have already described the appearance of that colossal bulk which was embedded in the ground .

The rainforests are depleted , we turned the planet into a waste ground .

It is stemless , producing leaves and inflorescence at ground level from a taproot .