ground

ground1 [ graund ] noun ***

▸ 1 surface of Earth

▸ 2 area of land

▸ 3 reason for something

▸ 4 subject/idea

▸ 5 someone's set of opinions

▸ 6 level of progress

▸ 7 crushed coffee beans

▸ 8 in electrical equipment

▸ 9 where ideas develop

▸ 10 background color

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) singular or uncount 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 feet 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 or uncount the soil nearest the Earth's surface in which you can grow plants:

Prepare the ground for planting.

sandy/hard/soft/rocky ground

2. ) 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

a ) uncount 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 water.

b ) count 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

c ) count an area of land or ocean where a particular thing happens:

the birds' summer feeding grounds

a traditional fishing ground

3. ) count 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 or uncount 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 or uncount someone's set of opinions or attitudes:

middle ground (=issues that people can agree about): Is there likely to be any middle ground in this negotiation?

the moral high ground (=opinions or standards that are morally better than other people's): It's too late to start claiming the moral high ground.

a ) shift your ground to change your opinion, especially about something that you seemed very certain of

6. ) uncount the level of success or progress that someone or something has achieved:

lose/gain ground: Most stockmarkets lost ground after their recent gains.

regain ground: In Athenian politics, democratic views had been regaining ground.

7. ) grounds plural extremely small pieces of crushed coffee beans, especially after they have been used for making a drink of coffee

8. ) count AMERICAN a wire that makes electrical equipment safe by allowing the current to flow into the ground

9. ) singular or uncount an environment in which ideas can develop:

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

10. ) count TECHNICAL a color used as a background or first layer on a painting, drawing, etc.

be on dangerous ground

to say something that is likely to offend other people or make them angry

firm/safe ground

something that is likely to be correct or accepted:

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

from the ground up

affecting or involving everything or everyone, starting with the most basic things or the least important people:

All systems would be replaced from the ground up.

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.

go to ground

to hide from people who want to catch you, usually for a long time

on someone's own ground

in a place or area of activity where someone feels confident and in control

on the ground

1. ) on the surface of the earth, rather than in the air

2. ) MAINLY JOURNALISM in the place being discussed, especially a place where there is a war or another serious situation:

We will be monitoring the situation on the ground.

run/drive something into the ground

1. ) to talk about something so much that people do not want to hear any more

2. ) to use something a lot, until it no longer works properly

run someone/something to ground

to find someone or something after a long search

run/work/drive someone into the ground

to make someone work very hard, until they are so tired that they cannot work any more

stand/hold your ground

1. ) to not move when someone attacks you or is going to attack you

2. ) to refuse to change your opinions, beliefs, or decisions despite pressure to change them

to the ground

if a building burns to the ground, it burns completely, so there is nothing left

=> BREAK1, CUT1

ground

ground 2 [ graund ] verb

▸ 1 stop airplane flying

▸ 2 punish by keeping home

▸ 3 in electrical equipment

▸ 4 when boat hits ground

▸ 5 base decision on something

▸ 6 teach basics of subject

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) transitive to stop an airplane from leaving the ground, or 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 they enjoy:

His parents grounded him for two weeks.

3. ) transitive AMERICAN to make a piece of electrical equipment safe by putting in a wire that takes the current to the ground

4. ) intransitive or transitive if a boat grounds or is grounded, it hits a rock or the ground under the water

5. ) 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.

6. ) transitive often passive to teach someone the basic parts of a subject:

be grounded in something: Trainees are grounded in the basic skills before they move on to more specialized work.

,ground `out phrasal verb intransitive AMERICAN

in baseball, to be put out of the game temporarily after hitting a GROUND BALL

ground

ground 3 [ graund ] adjective

1. ) crushed, especially for use in cooking:

the smell of ground coffee

freshly ground black pepper

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.

ground

ground 4

the past tense and past participle of grind1