ground

I UK [ɡraʊnd] / US noun
Word forms "ground":
singular ground plural grounds
***

1) [singular/uncountable] the top part of the Earth's surface that people walk on

I fell to the ground.

on the ground:

People were sitting on the ground in small groups.

above/below ground:

They were working 250 metres below ground.

a) [singular] the layer of soil and rock that forms the Earth's surface

the destruction caused by getting coal out of the ground

b) [singular/uncountable] the soil nearest the Earth's surface in which you can grow plants

Prepare the ground for planting.

sandy/marshy/stony/boggy ground

2) [uncountable] an area of land

an acre of ground

open ground (= an area of land without trees or buildings):

She had to cross open ground to get to the sea.

waste ground (= an area of land that is not used for anything):

a piece of waste ground about 60 feet square

a) [countable] an area of land and the structures on it that are intended to be used for a particular purpose

soldiers on the parade ground

the polo grounds

b) [countable] an area of land or sea where a particular thing happens

the birds' summer feeding grounds

a traditional fishing ground

c) grounds

[plural] the land, gardens, and lawn that surround a large house or other building

She found him wandering around the grounds.

maintenance of the buildings and grounds

3) [countable, usually plural] a reason for what you say or do, or for being allowed to say or do something

ground for:

There do seem to be some grounds for their complaints.

reasonable grounds:

He believes he has reasonable grounds for making the demand.

on (the) grounds of:

The Act prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex or marital status.

on medical/legal/financial etc grounds:

The army turned him down on medical grounds.

on the grounds that:

They oppose the bill on the grounds that it is too restrictive.

4) [singular/uncountable] the subject, idea, or information being talked about or written about

Henry seems anxious to return to more familiar ground.

cover ground:

We'll be covering a lot of new ground in today's lecture.

go (back) over the same ground:

There's no point in going over the same ground twice.

5) [singular/uncountable] an environment in which ideas can develop

fertile ground:

Germany in the 1920s and 30s was fertile ground for such ideas.

6) [singular/uncountable] someone's set of opinions or attitudes

the moral high ground (= opinions or standards that are morally better than other people's):

It's a bit late to start claiming the moral high ground.

See:

middle ground

7) [uncountable] the level of success or progress that someone or something has achieved

lose/gain ground:

Most stock markets lost ground after their recent gains.

regain ground:

In Athenian politics, democratic views had been regaining ground.

8) [countable] American an electrical earth

9) [countable] art a colour used as a background or first layer on a painting, drawing etc

10) grounds

[plural] extremely small pieces of crushed coffee beans, especially after they have been used for making a drink of coffee

•

get (something) off the ground — if you get a project off the ground, you start it and make it successful. You can also say that a project gets off the ground

No volunteers came forward to enable the youth club to get off the ground.

run/work/drive someone into the ground — to make someone work very hard, until they are so tired that they cannot work any more

You have to be careful that you don't work yourself into the ground.

safe/firm ground — something that is likely to be correct or accepted

Diplomatically, she tried to shift the conversation to firmer ground.

stand/hold your ground — to not move when someone attacks you or is going to attack you; to refuse to change your opinions, beliefs, or decisions despite pressure to change them

No one thought less of him for standing his ground.

- be on shaky ground

- from the ground up

- go to ground

- on the ground

- on someone's own ground

- shift your ground

- to the ground

See:

break I, cut I

II UK [ɡraʊnd] / US verb
Word forms "ground":
present tense I/you/we/they ground he/she/it grounds present participle grounding past tense grounded past participle grounded

1) [transitive] to stop a plane from leaving the ground, or to stop people from flying somewhere

All of their planes have been grounded.

2) [transitive] to punish a child or young person by stopping them from going to places that they enjoy

His parents grounded him for two weeks for smoking.

3) [intransitive/transitive] if a boat grounds or is grounded, it hits a rock or the ground under the water

4) [transitive, often passive] to base a decision or idea on a particular thing

be grounded in/on something:

Any new policies need to be firmly grounded in careful analysis of the issues.

5) [transitive, often passive] to teach someone the basic parts of a subject

be grounded in something:

Trainees are grounded in the basic skills.

6) [transitive] American to earth a piece of electrical equipment

7) [transitive] mainly journalism in sport, to put or hit the ball into the ground, or to make it roll along the ground

III UK [ɡraʊnd] / US adjective

1) crushed, especially for use in cooking

freshly ground black pepper

the smell of ground coffee

2) [only before noun] happening on the surface of the earth, especially in comparison with things happening in the air

If aerial attacks fail, the only alternative would be a ground assault.

IV UK [ɡraʊnd] / US

the past tense and past participle of grind I