| 释义 |
▪ I. ground, n.|graʊnd|
Forms: 1–5 (6– Sc.) grund, 4–6 grond, (5 gronnde), 4–7 grounde, 5 grownd(e, (5 grount, growende, 6 growinde, groune, 7 grown), 3– ground.
[Com. Teut.: OE. grund str. masc. = OFris., OS. grund (MDu. gront, inflected grond-, Du. grond), OHG. grunt, krunt (MHG. grunt, grund-, G. gruna), Goth. *grundus (cf. grundu-waddjus ground-wall, foundation, afgrundipa abyss):—OTeut. *grundu-z:—pre-Teut. *ghrn̥tú-s; no cognates outside Teut. are known. The formal equivalent is not found in ON., which has however grund fem. (declined like the -i- stems), earth, plain, and a cognate type (Teut. *grunþo-:—pre-Teut. ghrn̥to-) in grunn-r, gruð-r masc., bottom, grunn-r adj., shallow, grunn neut., shoal (Da. grund bottom, shallow, Sw. grund bottom, foundation, ground).]
I. The bottom; the lowest part or downward limit of anything.
†1.
a. Of the sea, a well, ditch, etc., and of hell; rarely of heaven. (Cf. bottom n. 3.) Obs.
c825Vesp. Psalter lxiv. 8 Ðu ᵹedroefes grund [L. fundum] sæs. a1000Cædmon's Gen. 345 (Gr.) Het hine þære sweartan helle grundes ᵹyman. c1175Lamb. Hom. 19 He..alesde us of helle grunde. c1200Ormin 12059 Modiȝnesse, Þatt warrp þe deofell..Inntill þe grund off hellepitt. c1275Luue Ron 154 in O.E. Misc. 98 Hit is ymston of feor iboren, nys non betere vnder heouene grunde. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 7213 In þe grond of helle dongeoune Þe hevedes of ȝynfulle salle be turned doune. c1425Eng. Conq. Irel. 12 He fel doun yn the ground of þe dich. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 237 b/2 Thangel of our lord plunged them doun in the grounde of the see. 1535Coverdale Job xxxviii. 16 Camest thou euer in to the grounde of the see? 1637Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 218 Cast Him..into the ground of the Sea, He shall come up again.
†b. Of other things, esp. of a vessel or a wound (cf. bottom n. 1). Also in phrase all to ground: completely, thoroughly. Obs.
c1205Lay. 7779 Þer mihten sitten in þon grunde [of the tower] cnihtes sixti hundred. Ibid. 21508 And duden heom alle clane into þan scipen grunde. a1300K. Horn 1197 Horn dronk of horn a stounde And þrew hys ryng to þe grounde [of the horn]. 13..Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxxvii. 814 Þe leche clanseþ þe wounde: Clene in þe ground And leiþ salue a-boue. c1305J. Iscariot 118 in E.E.P. (1862) 110 Of oure louerdes god..he stal al to grounde. c1420Pallad. on Husb. ix. 153 Decoct in bras yf grauel in the ground Noon leue, is preef that that licour is sound. c1440Jacob's Well 215 Ȝe schul be þe ground of þis laddere in helle, be-cause ȝe be begynners of þat wrong! c1500Lancelot 2079 His dedly wound god helyth frome the ground. 1597Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 1362 Quhyle we grip it [an ailment] to the grund. 1824Scott St. Ronan's ix, I ken weel eneugh how a customer looks that's near the grund of the purse.
†c. fig. Of the heart: (cf. bottom n. 5 b). Obs.
c1200Ormin 13286 Crist sahh all hiss herrtess grund. c1290S.E. Leg. I. 220/19 Þis olde man riȝt of is heorte grounde Al weopinde he hem tolde ȝwat he hadde i-founde. a1310in Wright Lyric P. 81 Sone, y fele the dede stounde, The suert is at myn herte grounde. c1440Jacob's Well 170 In þe bothme, in þe ground, in þe depthe of þin herte. 1535Coverdale Gen. xliii. 30 The grounde of his hert was kyndled towarde his brother. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 7 Let vs rather blesse God from the ground of our heart. 1745Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 506 We praised God from the ground of the heart.
d. Theol. [repr. G. grund as used by 14th-c. mystics, notably Eckhart and Tauler.] (a) The divine essence or centre of the individual soul, in which mystic union lies. (b) Godhead as the source of all that is.
a1400Book of Privy Counselling (1944) 144/19 God, þi grounde & þi purete of spirit. 1865J. H. Stirling Secret of Hegel I. ii. i. 235 Being is posited as Existence, and the Mediating agency of this Being as the Ground. 1899W. R. Inge Chr. Mysticism i. 7 The curious doctrine which we find in the mystics of the Middle Ages, that there is at ‘the apex of the mind’ a spark which is consubstantial with the uncreated ground of the Deity. 1911E. Underhill Mysticism iii. 64 The point of contact between man's life and the divine life..is called the Ground of the Soul, the foundation or basal stuff whence springs all spiritual life. 1945A. Huxley Time must have Stop viii. 92 There was the ultimate all-embracing field—the Brahma of Sankara, the One of Plotinus, the Ground of Eckhart and Boehme. Ibid. xxx. 289 There is a Godhead or Ground, which is the unmanifested principle of all manifestation... The Ground is transcendent and immanent. 1945― Perennial Philos. (1946) ii. 29 The divine Ground of all existence is a spiritual Absolute, ineffable in terms of discursive thought, but..susceptible of being directly experienced. 1949P. Tillich Shaking of Foundations vi. 47 The God Whom he cannot flee is the Ground of his being. 1950W. R. Trask tr. J. Bernhart in Theologia Germanica 95 What Plotinus had called the ‘kentron’ (center) of the soul, and Richard of St. Victor the ‘height and inwardness of the spirit’..; what Bernard of Clairvaux called the ‘point of the mind’ (acies mentis), or again the ‘spark’ (scintilla) is now given a variety of German names and is indefatigably discussed and speculated upon. It is called the ‘soul's essence’ (Wesen), ‘soul’ (Gemut),..‘ground’ (Grund)... These concepts are intended to designate that which God and man must have in common if a contact is to be established between them... The thing in which they [sc. individual mystics] agree is always the idea of the mystic function of the ‘ground’ of the soul. 1961J. Walsh tr. Dame Julian's Rev. Divine Love lxii. 168 God..is the Ground; he is the Substance. 1963J. A. T. Robinson Honest to God iii. 45 (heading) The Ground of our Being.
2. a. The solid bottom or earth underlying the sea († or other water). Now only Naut., esp. in reference to soundings, or in phrase to break ground: to heave the anchor clear of the bottom.
Beowulf (Z.) 553 Hreo wæron yða..Me to grunde ᵹeteah fah feondscaða. c1000Sal. & Sat. 227 (Gr.) Dol bið se ðe gæð on deop wæter, se ðe..mid fotum ne mæᵹ grund ᵹeræcan. c1200Ormin 14861 All all swa summ þe sæ wass þær Dun till þe grund toworrpenn, Swa þatt teȝȝ o þe driȝȝe grund Wel sæȝhenn openn weȝȝe. a1300Cursor M. 1840 Þat was no creatur in liue þat moght to grund or reche or riue. Ibid. 23198 Stang als men sais es vmstund Sua depe þat þar-on es na grund. 13..Seuyn Sag. 885 (W.) To a fische-pole he come..He lepe in and sanke to gronde. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiii. 148 As þai saile þai may..see þe ground of þe see. c1440Jacob's Well xi. 75 Caste out of þi pytt þe stynkyng wose of pride, tyl þou fynde a syker ground & a clene. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 1395 Lett fall an ankyr to grownd! a1568Satir. Poems Reform. xlvi. 393 Gif ȝe can nocht get the grund, Steir be the compas. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 204 Diue into the bottome of the deepe, Where Fadome-line could neuer touch the ground. 1600Hakluyt Voy. III. 190 There is good ground and ankorage here: and you shall ride in three fathom water. 1611Markham Countr. Content. i. xiv. 93 If you Angle for him [Trout] at the ground.. the Menow is a good bayte. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 1 The Ship then breaking Ground from Graves-End, to fall down to the Buoy in the Nore. 1712W. Rogers Voy. 50 We kept continual Soundings, and had always Ground from one League to ten off the Shore, from 20 to 50 Fathom Water. 1752[see break v. 44 d]. 1782Log of Albemarle in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. p. v, With this depth and ground you may be sure you are without the Capes. 1807J. Johnson Oriental Voy. 220 On the 5th the men of war..broke ground, and steered past. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., s.v., To strike ground, to obtain soundings.
fig.1781C. Johnston Hist. John Juniper I. 80 His readers..may have flattered themselves with hope of finding ground at last, after the pains of diving so deep for it.
b. The bottom at a point where the water becomes too shallow for a vessel, etc. to float. to take (the) ground: to run ashore, to strand. to smell the ground (see quot. 1875).
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 17 Thus do the hopes we haue in him, touch ground, And dash themselves to pieces. 1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 299 These masses [icebergs] may sometimes take the ground in great numbers. 1875E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 374, I..fancy that I begin to ‘smell the Ground’, as Sailors say of the Ship that slackens speed as the Water shallows under her. 1880Times 4 Aug. 12/4 The Laine, Russian barque,..took the ground on the Somersetshire side. 1893Stevenson Catriona Summary p. viii, The Covenant took ground and sank off the coast of Mull. 1893‘Q’ Delect. Duchy 295 Miss..Lear heard her brother's boat take ground on the narrow beach.
†c. on ground = aground. to set or run on ground: fig. to puzzle, nonplus (a person). Cf. 9 b.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 40 Like a Whale on ground. 1601Bp. Andrewes Serm. (1843) V. 127 The Pharisees and Sadducees had no further end but to set Him on ground, and so to expose him to the contempt of the people. a1642Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts vi. (1704) 522/1 The English..may come on Ground. 1642Rogers Naaman 442 Will God heale, that man may be set on ground and bee convinced of his owne impotency. 1659J. Arrowsmith Chain Princ. 138 Whilest others run themselves on ground, and dispute it till their understandings be nonplust. 1667Lond. Gaz. No. 217/4 The Ship called the Van Hoorn..is on ground without the mouth of the Texell.
3. a. pl. The particles deposited by a liquid in the bottom of the vessel containing it; dregs, lees. † Also sing. a residuum, sediment.
a1340Hampole Psalter lxiv. 9 Ill men sall drynke þe grundis of þe chalice. c1450M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 93 Streyne hit wel þorouȝ a caneuas, and do awey þe groundes of þe roses. 1601Holland Pliny II. 159 The grounds or dregs of the black oile oliue. 1625Hart Anat. Ur. viii. 98 Wheresoever there is a swim there is also a ground or residence. 1742Lond. & Country Brew. i. (ed. 4) 53 The unwholesome Settlements or Grounds of the Beer. 1775Sheridan St. Patr. Day ii. iv, Just. Did you perceive anything in my chocolate cup..? Ser. Nothing,..unless it was a little grounds. 1824Macaulay Misc. Writ. (1860) I. 141 [Telling fortunes] neither from the lines of a hand, nor the grounds of a teacup. 1860All Year Round No. 42. 367 Cups of smoking black coffee (half grounds as the Turks drink it).
fig.1629Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 44 Fulfil with joy the remnant of the grounds and remainders of the afflictions of Christ in your body. 1642Hales Schism 4 If so be you be animo defæcato, if you have cleared your self from froth and growns. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 185 How much another thing it is to hear him speak that hath cleared himself from froth and growns.
b. Refuse (of meal, wool, etc.). rare.
1629Chapman Juvenal 21 The mustiest grounds Of Barley⁓griest, bak'd purposely for hounds. 1653Walton Angler v. 117 You must be sure you want not..the Peacocks feather, and grounds of such wool and crewel as will make the Grasshopper. 1808Jamieson, Grounds, the refuse of flax, left in dressing it.
II. Base, foundation.
†4.
a. The solid base or foundation on which an edifice or other structure is raised. In early use pl. in the same sense (cf. foundations). Obs.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke vi. 48 Gelic is [he] ðæm menn timbrende hus seðe delfæð..& ᵹesette ða grundas [L. fundamenta] ofer carr vel stan. Ibid. xiv. 29. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xvii. 8 Groundes ofe hilles todreued are. Ibid. 16 Groundes ofe ertheli werlde vn-hiled are. a1300Cursor M. 128 For þi þat na werc may stand Wit-outen grundwall to be lastand, Þar for þis werc sal I fund Apon a selcuth stedfast grund. 1382Wyclif Ezra v. 16 Thilke Zazabazar cam, and sette the groundis of the temple of God in Jerusalem. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. cxxx, On him traist and call, That corner-stone and ground is of the wall. 1535Coverdale 1 Kings vi. 15 Salomon..buylded the walles..from the grounde of y⊇ house vnto the rofe. 1581Satir. Poems Reform. xliv. 35 As ȝour maisters grund is laid, Lyk do the vallis and bigging be. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 57 There be but nineteene standing,..howbeit the ruines and ground of fivescore more, are yet visible. 1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 88 The beams which make the ground or bottom of the Bridge.
b. The floor.
1847Webster, Ground, a floor or pavement. 1900Eng. Dial. Dict., Put the baby an the ground and let 'er craal. 1921E. O'Neill Emperor Jones (1925) i. 7 (stage-direction) Woman (seeing the uselessness of struggling, gives way to frantic terror, and sinks to the ground). 1937A. Christie Murder in Mews i. 14 We.. forced the door open. Mrs. Allen was lying in a heap on the ground shot through the head. 1939Joyce Finnegans Wake 452 Pricking up ears to my phono on the ground and picking up airs from th'other over th'ether.
5. In various immaterial applications.
a. That on which a system, work, institution, art, or condition of things, is founded; the basis, foundation. Now somewhat rare.
a1300Cursor M. 19307 Þat was to strenght þair trout[h] in grund. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 209 Mekenes, Þat es grund of al vertus..On whilk al vertus may be sette fast. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 793 (842) As he þat is þe welle of worþinesse Of trouþe ground, myrour of goodlyhed. c1400Destr. Troy Prol. 80 How þe groundes first grew..Bothe of torfer and tene þat hom tide aftur. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. vi, And so the vertew of his ȝouth before Was in his age the ground of his delytis. a1483Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 18 He ordeyned his groundes for household so sure that his greete hospitalitie dayly stode wurshypfully without decay xxxiii yeres. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxvi. 56 Cuvatyce, Rute of all evill and grund of vyce. 1523Fitzherb. Surv. Prol., For a grounde of this treatyse..I do take an olde statute named Extenta manerii as a principall grounde therof. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. i. 1 Which of all goodly manners is the ground, And roote of civill conversation. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 4 The Edition of the Seuentie..was vsed by the Greeke fathers for the ground and foundation of their Commentaries. 1653Walton Angler iv. 110 These and the May-fly are the ground of all fly-Angling. 1674Playford Skill Musick i. i. 1 The Gam-ut is the Ground of all Musick. 1867Maurice Patriarchs & Lawg. x. (1877) 198 The ground of the national existence was laid in sacrifice. 1870Jevons Elem. Logic xxvi. 219 Upon a similar ground rests all the vast body of certain knowledge.
†b. A fundamental principle; also pl. the elements or rudiments of any study or branch of knowledge. Obs.
1531Doctor & Student Introd. 2, I wyll gladly shewe the as me thynketh what be the groundes of the lawe of Englande. 1574tr. Littleton's Tenures 2 b, There is a ground in the law, that inheritance may..not lyneally ascend. 1592Davies Immort. Soul i. x. (1714) 22 Marrying divers Principles and Grounds, Out of their Match, a true Conclusion brings. 1605Bacon Adv. L. ii. i. §2 Let this ground therefore be laid that [etc.]. 1625― Ess., Boldness (Arb.) 519 Men that vndertake great Cures..but want the Grounds of Science. 1648Gage West Ind. xx. 160 And counselled me to learn the..language, (whereof I had already got some grounds). 1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. iii. x. (1743) 434 They have likewise a chaplain to instruct them in the grounds of learning. 1762Foote Orator i. Wks. 1799 I. 195 Though he is the Poitier who teaches you the step and the grounds; yet I am the Gallini who gives you the air, and the grace of the minuet.
c. A circumstance on which an opinion, inference, argument, statement, or claim is founded, or which has given rise to an action, procedure, or mental feeling; a reason, motive. Often with additional implication: A valid reason, justifying motive, or what is alleged as such. on the ground of: by reason of (some circumstance alleged in justification of a procedure). on (public, religious, etc.) grounds: for reasons of the nature specified.
c1205Lay. 3191 Al þis ilka ich wulle don; iseid ich habbe þene grund. c1374Chaucer Compl. Mars 160–3 The grounde an cause of al my peyn..I wol reherse not for to haue redresse But to declare my grounde of heuynesse. 1395Remonstr. Rom. Corrup. (1851) 20 Ambrose and Crisostom witnessen, with greet ground of holi writ and opin resoun, that confessioun to God sufficith to saluacioun. 1467Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 171 He..sawe his growende scholde be preved nowte, thanne he mad a new mater. 1535Coverdale Isa. xli. 21 Stonde at youre cause (saieth the Lorde) and bringe forth youre strongest grounde. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 179 The true ground of all these piteous woes. 1599H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner E iij, Chestnut, Chastnut: say some. I knowe not upon what ground. 1605Verstegan's Dec. Intell., Commend. Verses, To gratifie that nation is his ground To whom he thinks his best endeuours bound. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xx. 343 The beginnning of a rumour is sometimes all the ground thereof. 1657P. Henry Diaries (1882) 42 Hee refus'd; his grounds I know not. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. iii. §6 Then all former ages have believed without sufficient ground for faith. 1671M. Bruce Good News in Evil Times (1708) 18 A great ground of Gladness. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 340 On which ground it is, that their best Cities seldom have splendid Edifices..from..private Hands. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 126 The ground and reason of this tradition, I could not learn. 1732Law Serious C. xi. (ed. 2) 167 Let but any complaining, disquieted man tell you the ground of his uneasiness. 1775Sheridan Duenna i. iii, That is to be the ground of my dismission. ― Rivals ii. i, What grounds for apprehension? 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 19 There is ground enough for the opinion that all the kingdoms of Europe were, at a remote period, elective. 1796― Regic. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 201, I thought the insolent, unprovoked aggression..a good ground of war. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 134 His desire was publicly urged on public grounds, and..thus only, the pope was at liberty to consider it. 1859Mill Liberty ii. (1865) 21/2 He has no ground for preferring either opinion. 1868J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 283 The modern usurer will on such grounds leave his money to a hospital. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 233 Thus all ground of offence is taken away. 1876Gladstone Homeric Synchr. 57, I am unable to perceive the grounds of the assumption. 1882J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 293 Ferrar was deprived..on the ground of his marriage. 1883C. J. Wills Mod. Persia 109 Whether or no this legend had any ground I cannot say. 1895F. Hall Two Trifles iii, My grounds for doing so shall soon be stated explicitly.
6. The foundation or substratum on which other parts are overlaid, or on which they rest for support or display. In various technical uses:
a. The chief or underlying part in a composite textile fabric; a piece of cloth used as a basis for embroidery or decoration. In Lace-making: The meshes upon which the pattern is worked.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 453 Hir couerchiefs ful fyne weren of ground I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound. 1480Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 116 Cloth of gold broched upon satyn ground. 1494Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 27 They pluck off both the Nap and Cotton of the same Fustians, and break commonly both the Ground and Threads in sunder. 1667Dryden Maiden Queen iii. i. Wks. 1882 II. 455 No mortal hand so ignorant is found, To weave coarse work upon a precious ground. 1722Lond. Gaz. No. 6068/8 A Suit of Double Ground, yellow and white, lined with a yellow Mantua Silk. 1779Sheridan Critic i. i, Your occasional tropes and flowers suit the general coarseness of your style as tambour sprigs would a ground of linsey-woolsey. 1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework (ed. 2), Devonia Ground, a ground used in Duchesse lace, and as a variety when making Honiton lace.
b. Any material surface, natural or prepared, which is taken as a basis for working upon: esp. in painting or decorative art, a main surface or first coating of colour, serving as a support for other colours or a background for designs; the prevailing or principal colour of any object, picture, etc.; that portion of a surface which is not coloured, decorated, or operated upon. Also pl.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. xi. (1495) 871 The meane coloures ben groundyd in none other colour better than in whyte, and the more whyte the grounde is the faster the colour cleuyth. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 1074 My sable ground of sin I will not paint. 1601Holland Pliny II. 621 The rest had need of a ground of Latton foile to giue them a lustre. 1625N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. vii. (1635) 168 The Ground (in a Plaine-chart) is the space or Platforme wherein the Lines are to be inscribed. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 200 All the Wall is painted in lovely Mosaick Work of Green, upon a Ground of fine Gold. 1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 347 When you begin to work, lay a thick ground against the ceiling or wall, with plaster. 1820Scott Monast. xviii, The gems, being relieved and set off by the darker and more grave ground of the stuff, show like stars. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 921 Laying the grounds [of wall-paper] is done with earthy colours or coloured lakes thickened with size, and applied with brushes. 1860Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. vii. ii. 124 Seen in broken flakes on a deep purple ground of heavier cloud beyond. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 51 Dyers first prepare the white ground and then lay on the dye of purple.
fig.1633Marmion Fine Companion i. vii. Dram. Wks. (1875) 124 A man cannot discern the ground of their discourse for oaths. 1828Lights & Shades II. 157 Cockneyism is a ground of native shallowness, mounted with pertness and conceit.
†c. Mus. The plain-song or melody on which a descant is raised. Also = ground-bass. Obs.
1592R. D. Hypnerotomachia 19 A cunning Musition, who having devised his plaine grounde in right measure [etc.]. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. vii. 49 For on that ground Ile make a holy Descant. 1596Edward III, ii. i. 122 Ah, what a world of descant makes my soule Vpon this voluntarie ground of loue. 1633B. Jonson Love's Welcome at Welbeck, Welcome is all our Song, is all our sound, The Treble part, the Tenor, and the Ground. 1670–98R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 199 An untouched organ underneath the hill, plays soft ground to the Muses instruments. 1719Watts Doxology, ‘Let God the Father live’, Sinners from his free Love derive The Ground of all their Songs. 1811Busby Dict. Mus. (ed. 3), Ground, the name given to a composition in which the bass, consisting of a few bars of independent notes, is perpetually repeated to a continually varying melody: as in Purcel's Ground, Pepusch's Ground, etc.
d. Etching. (See quots. 1727–41 and 1837.) Also etching-ground. Cf. G. ätzgrund.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., Ground in Etching denotes a gummous composition, smeared over the surface of the metal to be etched; to prevent the aqua fortis from eating, or having effect, except in places where this ground is cut through, or pared off, with the points of needles. 1790[see etching]. 1821Craig Lect. Drawing vii. 386 This ground must be made up into small balls. 1834Penny Cycl. II. 203/1 (art. Aquatinta) He..formed a granulated surface on the plate, usually called a ground. 1837Ibid. IX. 441 This etching-ground is a substance composed of wax, asphaltum, gum-mastic, resin, etc... The laying of the ground, as it is called, is thus effected [etc.]. Ibid. 442 The parts which are bitten-in enough are now to be covered with what is called stopping-ground, which is a mixture of lamp-black and Venice turpentine. 1885Chemist's Circular, Holding the plate perfectly level, pour on the centre as much of the Liquid Ground as will freely flow over the entire surface.
e. Carpentry. (See quots.) Usually pl.
1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 225 Grounds.—Pieces of wood concealed in a wall, to which the facings or finishings are attached. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 593 Ground, or boxing-stile, grooved to receive the plastering. 1847Smeaton Builder's Man. 248 Grounds.—Those pieces of wood imbedded in the plastering of walls, to which skirting and other joiner's finishings are attached. 1876Encycl. Brit. IV. 492 Where the plasterer's work joins the grounds, they should have a small groove ploughed in the edge to form a key for the plaster.
† f. pl. (See quots.) Obs.
1664Evelyn Sylva i. xvii. (1729) 79 Of the whitest part of the old Wood..is made the Grounds of our effeminate farined Gallants Sweet Powder. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Chalk, used in Powder by the Perfumers to mix with their Grounds. Ibid., Grounds, unscented Hair Powder, made of Starch or Rice.
†7. The fundamental constituent or the essential part of any thing. Obs.
1580Frampton Monardes' Two Med. agst. Venome 123 b, Taking away the grounde, and evill qualitie, that the venomes doe infuse into the bodies. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 429 Our Musk is compounded of divers things, the ground whereof is the bloud of a little Beast. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 149 Though the meat be particoloured, or party named. Yet the ground and meate is Pelo and no other. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 14 The Ground of the Eye (as they call it) should be large and full..What they mean by the Ground of the Eye is the Pupil or Hole thro' the Iris and Uvea.
III. The surface of the earth, or a part of it.
8. a. The earth regarded as the surface upon which man and his surroundings naturally rest or move; freq. in prepositional phrases, as along, on, to the ground († formerly also without the article), above ground or under ground.
Beowulf (Z.) 2295 Hord-weard sohte ᵹeorne æfter grunde, wolde guman findan. 971Blickl. Hom. 221 Ða eodan hie eft to ðæm tune, & þæt ᵹild ᵹebræcan & ᵹefyldan eal oþ grund. c1200Ormin 9285 Illc an treo þatt..Ne bereþþ nohht god wasstme Shall bi þe grund beon hæwenn upp. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2640 Ðe child it warp dun to ðe grund. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2768 Wat is binuþe þe gronde, þat makeþ þat þe fondement ne stont none stounde. 1340Ayenb. 246 Ase þet trau þet is ykarked mid frut, þe more hit bouȝ to þe grunde. c1386Chaucer Prioress' T. 223 He fil al plat vp on the grounde. c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 8738 Oon gaf him on the ere Such a clap with his fist That he thoo the ground kyst. c1470Henry Wallace vi. 10 In Aperill quhen cleithit is..The abill grounde be wyrking off natur. 1513Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 29 On the fertill skyrt lappis of the ground. 1571Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 86 If any be much under grownd, the dampnesse of the earth takes away their lively colour. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. June 6 The simple ayre, the gentle warbling wynde..The grassye ground with daintye Daysies dight. 1590― F.Q. iii. xii. 34 To ground He fell halfe dead. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 43 Were the City again in the hands of the Moors, or even with the Ground, it were better for us. 1772in G. White Selborne (1880) 126 After I left Sussex the tortoise retired into the ground under the hepatica. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xiv, He looked on the ground while he answered her. 1888McCarthy & Praed Ladies' Gallery II. xi. 214 He stumbled..and I came to the ground with him.
b. fig. in phr. † to bring to the ground: to cast down, overthrow, overcome, subdue; to come (or go) to the ground: to be overcome; to perish; to fall to the ground: (of schemes) to come to nothing, to be given up or abandoned; so to be dashed to the ground (of hopes); down to the ground: completely, thoroughly, in every respect (colloq.); from the ground up (colloq., orig. U.S.), completely, entirely; ‘down to the ground’; to get off the ground, to make a successful start; on the ground, in situ, on the spot.
c1200Ormin 11773 Þatt illke wise þatt Adam I Paradys wass fandedd, & brohht to grund. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1292 Þis lond was ibroȝt þoru treson verst to grounde. Ibid. 7495 Þus lo þe englisse folc vor noȝt to grounde com. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9888 Arthur..preyed hym of help a stounde, Or elles he scholde go to grounde. c1400Destr. Troy 9342 Hit greuys me full gretly, & to ground brynges. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 411 It must needes fall to the ground. 1587Golding De Mornay xiv, Let such vanities passe and come to the groune. 1640C. Harvey Church-gate iii, He holds us up, whilst in him we are found: If once we fall from him, we go to ground. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 106 It fell to the ground with the rest of the King's plans and attempts. 1849E. E. Napier Excurs. S. Africa II, These poor fellows' hopes were suddenly dashed to the ground. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Ability Wks. (Bohn) II. 34 The strong survived, the weaker went to the ground. 1867[see down adv. 31]. 1878M. E. Braddon Clov. Foot xlv, Some sea-coast city in South America would suit me down to the ground. 1894Du Maurier Trilby (1895) 421 He looks as if he could be trusted down to the ground. 1895Congress. Record 6 Feb., App. 207/1 There never has been a time that a democratic administration has not been American from the ground up. 1910W. M. Raine B. O'Connor 52 We suited each other from the ground up. 1960Guardian 25 Nov. 15/1 On-the-ground investigations. 1961New Statesman 28 July 129/3 Intended as a half-way point of the Festival, at which audience and platform might fruitfully interact, it never got off the ground. 1963Listener 10 Jan. 59/2 There is no longer any good reason why the young..American writer should undergo a European apprenticeship unless it be to satisfy his curiosity or to watch the operations of another literature on the ground. 1969Ibid. 3 Apr. 469/1 It soon became evident..that the history of contemporary music required reconsidering from the ground up. 1969Guardian 4 July 5/5 If thefts continue, the future plans for the Crewe to Glasgow [railway] line can never really get off the ground.
c. Regarded as the place of burial. above ground: unburied, alive. to bring, come to the ground (now only dial.): to bury, be buried.
c1400Siege Troy 1334 in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LXXII. 44 So doughty a body..That soo lowe is leyd in þe ground. c1430St. Greg. Trental in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 79 Sone to the gronde the con hor bere bryng And beryd hor. 1570Bury Wills (Camden) 157 To see me honestly brought to the grownde. 1607Shakes. Cor. iv. i. 51 While I remaine aboue the ground, you shall Heare from me still. 1611Bible Gen. iii. 19. 1694 Echard Plautus 208 I'll find out my Master, if he be above Ground, and bring him t'ye. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) I. 19 Rachel, who died last week, and is still above ground. 1877L. J. Jennings Field Paths & Gr. Lanes 28 Poor thing! it was only fourteen months afore she came to the ground.
d. The portion of the earth's surface on which a person or thing stands or moves; often fig. in phr. to cut the ground from under one or one's feet.
c1530Interl. Beauties Women A vi, Yet worship I the ground that thou gost on. 1809Malkin Gil Blas iv. i. ⁋2, I took all possible pains to feel the ground under my feet, and to study the characters of the whole household. 1855Trollope Warden xi, The ground was cut from under her on every side. 1869― He Knew lxiii, Why should you have cut the ground away from your feet in that way? 1938B. Lunn in ‘H. Kingsmill’ Eng. Genius 205 The Presbyterian divines were maddened by answers which cut the ground from institutional religion. 1962Christian Cent. 18 July 886/2 In short, Veterum Sapientia has actually succeeded in cutting the ground from under the feet of the exponents of a living liturgy.
†e. The bare floor which constituted the pit of a theatre. Obs.
1614B. Jonson Barth. Fair Induct., The understanding Gentlemen o' the Ground.
f. Fox-hunting. (to run) to ground: into a burrow or hole in the ground, ‘to earth’. Cf. run v. 42 e. Also to lie at ground. to go to ground: also said of a dog. Also in other phrases, and fig. (of a person), to withdraw from public notice and live quietly or ‘lie low’.
1797Monthly Mag. III. 246 They soon found a fox, who..saved himself by running to ground. 1801Daniel Rural Sports I. 90 In deep Snow, Foxes will lie at ground. Ibid. 91 When a Fox goes to ground, after a long chase..With respect to the digging of Foxes which hounds run to ground. 1860G. D. Prentice Prenticeana 175 A Party of our friends..chased a fox thirty-six hours. They actually ‘ran the thing into the ground’. 1871Mrs. Stowe My Wife & I ix. 93 Show me up the weak points of those reformers; raise a laugh at those temperance men,—those religionists, who, like all us poor human trash, are running religion, and morals, and progress into the ground. 1900Daily News 23 Oct. 6/2 The British infantrymen watched the race for shelter, their sporting spirit rising..above all racial hatred, and hailing with a ‘gone to ground’ whoop the final disappearance of the gun. 1905Loder-Symonds & Crowdy Hist. Old Berks Hunt xv. 292 Hatford. Gorse, where they soon marked him [the fox] to ground. 1920A. C. Smith Dog 18 Strictly speaking..Airedales and bull terriers should not be classified among the terriers, both being much too big to go to ground. 1925Times 7 Jan. 5/6 Sticking to their fox, the pace continued good to Chesterton, where he was marked to ground. 1930‘Sapper’ Finger of Fate 265 It so happens that on occasions members of the fraternity [sc. snakes] go to ground in the bunches of fruit as they lie stacked beside the railway line. 1931Our Dogs 23 Oct. 292/2 Working Terrier Dog..goes to ground to fox or badger, and stays. 1964Ann. Reg. 1963 326 The four men ‘went to ground’, probably in Johannesburg. 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 39 When they found where a fox had been caught they would track it, sometimes for miles, and shoot it, but often the fox would go to ground and another trap was lost. 1968Times 11 May 4/6 They are looking for a suburban villa where they can go to ground.
9.
†a. The earth as contrasted with heaven. Chiefly in phr. on (the) ground. (In later use perh. not different from sense 8.) Obs.
a1000Hymns ix. 39 (Gr.) And we men cweðað on grunde her. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 52 God saue þe from mischaunce, And ȝiue þe grace vppon grounde, In good lyf to ende. a1400–50Alexander 1964 All þe gracieux goddez þat þe ground viseten All er vndir my obedience. c1460Towneley Myst. xvi. 443 Ther goys none on grounde that has sich a wyght. 1611Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 146 A Nobler Sir, ne're liu'd 'Twixt sky and ground. 1616B. Jonson Devil an Ass iv. i, There's not a finer Officer goes on ground. 1742Shenstone Schoolmistress 72 And think, no doubt, she been the greatest wight on ground. 1883R. W. Dixon Mano iii. iii. 123 The truest gentleman that is on ground.
†b. The earth as distinguished from the sea; the dry land. Phr. to lay on dry ground: to floor, gravel (cf. 2 c). Obs.
a1000Andreas 747 (Gr.) Þone, þe grund & sund, heofon & eorðan & hreo wæᵹas..amearcode. a1300K. Horn 142 Of schip þe gon fonde An sette fot on grunde. 1519Interl. Four Elem. (Percy Soc.) 40 But sir, if that a man sayle farre Upon the see, wyll than that starre Do there as on the grounde? 1590Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 32 The glad marchant that does vew from ground His ship farre come. 1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe 50 Who this king should bee, beshackled theyr wits, and layd them a dry ground euery one. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 13/2 Cannot believe..That other elements are to be found, Than is the water and this ball of ground. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xix. 67 Then we unladed all her furniture..and set her on ground for to caulk her. 1697Dryden æneid x. 937 Too late young Turnus the delusion found, Far on the sea, still making from the ground.
10. With a and pl.
†a. A region, land, country. Obs. rare.
Beowulf (Z.) 2073 Heofones ᵹim glad ofer grundas. a1000Widsith 136 (Gr.) Swa scriþende ᵹesceapum hweorfað gleo-men gumena ᵹeond grunda fela. c1436Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 188 In alle Cristendome Ys no grounde ne lond to Yreland lyche, So large, so gode. Ibid. 191 Kepe welle that grounde [Wales]. 1609B. Jonson Case is altered i. i, Onion..though I haue no learning, yet I honour a scholer in any ground of the earth sir.
†b. A piece or parcel of land. Obs.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xxvii. 7 And with that moneye they bought a ground of a certayne potter for godlye vses. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Arborum contemplatione fundum comparare, to bye a grounde for the trees that is in it. 1733Tull Horse-Hoing Husbandry 23 When Part of a Ground has been better Till'd than the rest [etc.].
c. pl. An enclosed portion of land of considerable extent surrounding or attached to a dwelling-house or other building, serving chiefly for ornament or recreation. † Formerly in more general sense = lands, fields.
c1460Towneley Myst. xvi. 268 Markys, rentys, and powndys, Greatt castels & growndys. 1538Fitzherb. Just. Peas 158 b, No person shall kepe..in his owne proper landes, nor in the possession, londes or groundes of any other..aboue the nombre of two thousande Shepe at one tyme. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. x. 36 Like a Theefe to come to rob my grounds; Climbing my walles inspight of me the Owner. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 184 Giant Despair..caught Christian and Hopeful asleep in his grounds. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 141 His [labours] who ploughs across the furrowed grounds. Ibid. 194 No..marks nor bounds Distinguished acres of litigious grounds. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 161 ⁋2 Till he has learned the history of his grounds. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) ii. xviii, After having cut down every foot of grass upon your grounds. 1837Dickens Pickw. xix, The Captain's house was a villa, and his land ‘grounds’, and it was all very high, and mighty, and great. 1855Prescott Philip II, iii. (1857) 243 Extensive grounds were also laid out around the palace, and a park was formed.
11. a. Area or distance on the face of the earth. (Usually without article, and most commonly depending on a word implying extent or partition.) Also fig. (cf.4,5).
c1400Destr. Troy 12556 Naules..hade londes full long, & of leue brede, And the grettist of grise, of gronnde & of pepull. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §12 An acre of grounde..as moche grounde. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. Ded. ⁋iij b, Anon, haveing gone a litle ground, mine eyes were fead with most delectable appearaunces. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ii. 111, I will not rest till I haue run some ground. 1625N. Carpenter Geog. Del. ii. xi. (1635) 185 That parcell of ground..has become the Salt Sea. 1667Pepys Diary 21 Apr., I have a mind to buy enough ground to build a coach-house and stable. a1774Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) II. 58 We travelled till night, and afterwards having gone a great deal more ground [etc.]. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy iii. 34, ‘I bungle the loading of pistols! I that have stepped more ground than any man in the country!’ 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xvii. 121 The glacier..takes up ground which belonged to it in former ages. 1900Pilot 24 Mar. 110/2 Much of the ground covered in these expeditions is practically new to the modern European.
fig.1727A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. II. xlvii. 170 And thought that the Kings Refusal to make good their Demands, was a sufficient Piece of Ground to build their War on.
b. esp. in phr. to break (new) ground, to make progress in a new direction (see break v. 44 c); to gain ground, gather ground, get ground: to advance, make progress; lit. and fig. (see gain v. 8, gather v. 9, get v. 5 c); to give ground: to recede, retire (see give v. 45); to lose ground: to fall back, decline (see lose v.); to make (up) ground, to make progress.
c1436Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 188 Wylde Yrishe so muche of grounde have gotyne There upon us. Ibid. 189 In that land..we lesse every yere More grounde and more. 1529[see get v. 5 c]. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 254 To outrunne the ringleader, and thereby to gett ground. 1607Dekker Sir T. Wyatt Wks. 1873 III. 114 They come, no man giue ground..Be Englishmen and berd them to their faces. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) II. 3 To deal plainly with you, you have lost som ground at Court by it. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 111 Though we beat and tack'd to and agen till the evening, we gained no ground. a1776R. James Diss. Fevers (1778) 53 He sweated profusely and the delirium began to give ground. 1804W. Tennant Ind. Recreat. (ed. 2) I. 39 A more independent spirit..is daily gaining ground among that class of men. 1873Burton Hist. Scot. VI. lxxiii. 354 They were steadily losing ground in the war. 1895Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable 557/2 To break ground, to be the first to commence a project, etc.; to take the first step in an undertaking. 1906H. C. Wyld Hist. Study Mother Tongue v. 94 Those tendencies..which are peculiar to the individual, and which are not shared by the community, will not gain ground, but will be eliminated. 1921Granta 30 Nov., The local side again and again made ground galore with long kicks down wind. 1928Nation & Athenæum 7 Jan. 537/2 Montesquieu..had been the first to break the new ground. 1931F. L. Allen Only Yesterday ix. 229 Theodore Dreiser, Willa Cather,..the Imagists and exponents of free verse had been breaking new ground since before the war. 1932Sunday Express 3 July 22/7 Udaipur is gradually making up ground on the colts in Butters' stable. 1954G. D. H. Cole Hist. Socialist Thought II. xiii. 362 Communities breaking new ground were in constant danger of becoming the prey of fraudulent financiers and bankers. 1954A. S. C. Ross in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen LV. 45 Posh ‘smart’ is essentially non-U, but recently, it has gained ground among schoolboys of all classes. 1966Listener 10 Mar. 345/2 I've had to break new ground in all directions in order to say them.
c. to take ground: to take up, or move into, a certain position. lit. and fig.
1700[see 13 b]. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. v. 489 Uncertainty was at last removed, by his marching towards Arcot, and taking ground before it on the 21st of August. 1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 18 Take ground to the right (or left) in fours. 1883Harper's Mag. Nov. 850/1 He took new ground..as to..painting.
d. fig. With allusion to a metaphorical ‘travelling’ or the like: Subject-matter, things that may be the object of study or discourse. Also rarely with a: A department of study.
1796H. Hunter St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 12 His pupil had the courage to walk over the same ground after him. 1804W. Tennant Ind. Recreat. (ed. 2) I. 117 The learned Dr. Robertson has travelled partly over the same ground. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy xiii. 112 Mr. B...thought he had touched on forbidden ground. 1847L. Hunt Men, Women, & B. I. i. 8 The more we know of any one ground of knowledge, the further we see into the general domains of intellect. 1933H. L. Ickes Diary 12 Sept. (1953) I. 88 At eleven o'clock we had a meeting of the Public Works Board and we covered a great deal of ground.
12. Preceded by a descriptive or limiting adj., or an attributive n.: Area or space having a specified extent or character, or adapted for a specified purpose. lit. and fig.
a. with a and pl. (Now only with attrib. n. or with an adj. indicating relative position or change of level.)
c1391Chaucer Astrol. ii. §29 Lat thyn Astrolabie couch adoun evene up-on a smothe grond. 1535Coverdale Exod. iii. 5 The place where vpon thou stondest, is an wholy grounde. ― Ps. cvi[i]. 35 He maketh..water sprynges of a drye grounde. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 225, I feare none, because I stande uppon a saufe grounde. 1577[see corn-ground]. 1618Bolton Florus (1636) 79 Hee..did beate the enemy from a ground of advantage. 1662Gerbier Princ. 14 On a low ground by the River side. 1707Freind Peterborow's Cond. Sp. 215 The Country..was full of little rising Grounds and Valleys. 1777[see hunting-ground]. 1805Med. Jrnl. XIV. 565 That our author may be able to meet Dr. Jackson..on equal grounds. 1855Prescott Philip II, I. i. viii. 108 A level ground, four leagues in breadth, lay between the armies. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 112 The fishing grounds of Portugal and England were used in common. 1894J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 59 The spot was on a rising ground in a bend of the Foyle.
b. in generalized sense.
c1436Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 192 Lytelle wenythe the fole..What woo it were for alle this Englysshe grounde. 1508Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 286 Out of Dumbar that theif he maid exyle, Unto Edward, and Inglis grund agane. 1533Fitzherb. Husb. §6 In tough cley, and vpon hylly ground. 1580Sidney Ps. xxvi. vi, I..Sett on plaine ground will thee Jehovah praise. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 191 My credit now stands on such slippery ground. 1611Bible Exod. iii. 5 [cf. 1535 Coverdale in a]. 1639Fuller Holy War iv. xiv. (1647) 192 Though he stood on the lower ground in point of birth. 1781Cowper Friendship 34 If..on forbidden ground..We sought without attaining. 1832Shelley Masque Anarchy lxv, On some spot of English ground. 1853Tennyson To E. L. 10, I..track'd you still on classic ground. 1888Inglis Tent Life Tigerland 1 The best tiger-shooting ground in the world.
13. With reference to possessor or occupier, denoted by a genitive noun or possessive pronoun.
a. The portion of land forming the property († or territory) of a person († or people), or occupied by one as a tenant.
a1400–50Alexander 188 Ȝour king sall..gett agayn his avyn gronde. Ibid. 1973 Miȝt þou þe marches of Messe⁓doyne mayntene þi-selfe And gouerne bot þine awen gronde. c1436Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 188 Oure grounde there is a lytelle cornere To alle Yrelonde in trewe comparisone. 1533Presentm. Juries in Surtees Misc. (1888) 34 That every man ryng his swyne, except they kepe theyme of theire owne growinde. 1548Forrest Pleas. Poesye xix. 61 Hee [the farmer] cannot els lyue, so deeare is his grownde. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 225 Like a fair house, built on another mans ground. 1787Cowper Let. 30 Aug., Wks. (1876) 262 Mr. Throckmorton having long since put me in possession of all his ground, has now given me possession of his library. 1842Tennyson Amphion 75 'Tis in my neighbour's ground. 1855― Maud i. xxi. 1 Rivulet crossing my ground.
b. The space upon which a person, etc., takes his stand; the position maintained or defended by one; esp. in phrases to hold, keep, maintain, stand, shift one's ground; now usually fig. (sometimes with suggetion of 5 a).
1616J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. (Chaucer Soc.) ix. 176 He fightinge to maintaine Fregilia towne, they bearinge in to make his grown their grown. 1657Sparrow Bk. Com. Prayer (1661) 239 The Church thereby keeping as it were her ground. 1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 1 A friend, as willing to shift his ground as I, gave me an Overture which I accepted. 1700Dryden Flower & Leaf 287 Drawn in two lines adverse they wheeled around, And in the middle meadow took their ground. 1707Lond. Gaz. No. 4353/1 The Deserters..stood their Ground, and..fir'd on 'em. 1712W. Rogers Voy. 278 We can hardly keep our Ground against the Current. 1796Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 221 The commanding officer turns on his own ground. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. i. i. 4 The sports of the field still maintained their ground. 1809Malkin Gil Blas ii. vii. ⁋24 She met me on my own ground. 1833H. Martineau Briery Creek v. 113 Here the humblest slave might stand erect on the ground of his humanity. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 34 The government was strong enough to hold its ground. 1859Mill Liberty iii. (1865) 43/2 It is not easy to see how it [Individuality] can stand its ground. 1881Jowett Thucyd. I. 197, I, like him taking the ground of future expediency, stoutly maintain the contrary position.
14. a. The particular space or area under consideration, or one used for some special purpose, esp. the scene of any contest, or meeting. off the ground: out of the way. on the ground: engaged in a duel.
c1400Destr. Troy 1174 A noumbur hoge Of Grekes were gedret & þe grounde hade. Ibid. 1352 The Troiens..ffleddon in fere..When the Grekys hade the gre & the grounde wonen. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 115 Content to talk with the Governour, providit that the Cardinall and his cumpany war of the ground. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iv. ii. 49 Bid our Commanders leade their charges off A little from this ground. 1678Dryden & Lee Œdipus iv. Wks. 1883 VI. 213 I'm too well acquainted with the ground, Quite to forget it. 1816Scott Old Mort. vi, Why came ye na hame when other folk left the grund? 1837Dickens Pickw. iv, There were sentries posted to keep the ground for the troops. 1837Thackeray Ravenswing vii, He has been ‘on the ground’ I don't know how many times. 1850Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. iii. (1859) 41 They had just arrived on the ground, and had not yet taken any whales. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 72 (Bandy) Ground, a rectangular sheet of ice, measuring not more than 200 yds. × 100 yds. and not less than 100 × 50.
b. Cricket. (a) The space on which the game is played; (b) the space within which a player may lawfully stand while taking a particular part in the game; the ground, his, etc. ground (of a batsman) = the ground behind the popping-crease; (c) the paid staff of players attached to a club (also ground-staff).
1718in G. B. Buckley Fresh Light on 18th Cent. Cricket (1935) 2 Three of their men made an elopement and got off the ground without going in. 1733in H. T. Waghorn Cricket Scores (1899) 6 There will be a line around the ground as usual, within which none but the gamesters are to be allowed. 1774Laws of Cricket 8 The strikers need not keep within their ground till the Umpire has called Play. 1788Ibid., This rule is not meant..to prevent the bowler from filling up holes, watering his ground, or using sawdust, &c., when the ground is wet. 1850‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. 78 The..players of ‘the Ground’..act in the..capacity of..umpire. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, He is never in his ground, except when his wicket is down. 1880J. Lillywhite Cricketer's Ann. 49 The ground staff for 1879 at Lord's consisted of [the twenty-two professional players named]. 1882Daily Tel. 27 May, His colleague driving the ball into his wicket whilst he was just out of the ground. 1894Times 23 Mar. 10/2 There are various additions to the ground staff... The list of ‘the ground’ is now as follows. 1955T. H. Pear English Social Diff. xi. 260 Boys of outstanding promise [at cricket] can receive coaching if they take jobs on a club ground-staff.
c. to have the ground on one's side: to have the advantage of position (in a contest.)
1650B. Discolliminium 1 He knows well that he hath gotten the ground and winde on his side, but I think I have the Sun on my back.
15. In technical uses.
†a. (See quot.) Obs.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Bowling, Ground, a bag or handkerchief laid down to mark where a bowl is to go.
b. Telegraphy. The contact of the conductor of an electric circuit with the earth; the escape of current resulting from this.
1870F. L. Pope Electr. Tel. v. (1872) 63 The effect of a ground or escape is..to exhaust the batteries more rapidly. 1883T. D. Lockwood Electr. Tel. 138 If an accidental connection with the ground should occur, or, as it is technically said, a ground appears on the wires. 1893in Sloane Electrical Dict.
IV.
16. a. The soil of the earth. Also without article: Soil, earth, mould; now only in Mining (see quot. 1881) except with descriptive adj. Phr. to break ground (see break v. 44).
a1300Cursor M. 6747 Theif hus brecand, or gruband grund. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §10 If the grounde be good, putte the more beanes to the pease. 1547Homilies i. Misery Mankind i. (1859) 16 We may learn to know ourselves to be but ground, earth, and ashes. 1660Willsford Scales Comm. 196 This Trench (where the labourers first break ground). 1696tr. Du Mont's Voy. Levant 131 There are no Woods in it by reason of the shallowness of the Ground. 1700Moxon Mech. Exerc. I. 17 He ought to dig it deeper till he comes to firm ground; or if it proves to be loose, or made Ground [etc.] 1795Gentl. Mag. 539/1 The extreme wetness of the ground had delayed the operation of the share. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Ground, the rock in which a vein is found; also, any given portion of the mineral deposit itself. 1884Public Opinion 12 Sept. 338/1 The loose shale..has moved forward..and carried away both shafts..down to blue ground.
b. With a and pl. A kind or variety of soil. ? Obs.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxv. (1495) 642 Corne thryueth in one grounde and faylyth in a nother. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §2 There be many maner of groundes and soyles. Some whyte cley, somme redde cley [etc.]. 1542Boorde Dyetary iv. (1870) 238 Let hym make his fundacyon vpon a graualy grownde myxt with clay. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 44 They know exactly..what ground is best for euerie kinde of corne. 1626Bacon Sylva §409 In some Grounds which are strong, you shall haue a Raddish, &c. come in a Moneth. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 80 This ground with Bacchus, that with Ceres, suits. 1787Winter Syst. Husb. 9 When a farmer cannot keep the produce of each ground separate.
V. attrib. and Comb.
17. General combinations.
a. Simple attributive, locative and objective (senses I and III) as ground-bed, ground-builder, ground-clearance, ground-end, ground-fabric, ground-feeder, ground-herb, ground-leaf, ground-level, ground-mark, ground-nest, ground-nester, ground-pipe, ground-soil, ground-sward, ground-tilth, ground-whirl; ground-building, ground-deep, ground-feeding, ground-nesting, ground-routing adjs.
1958Chambers's Techn. Dict. Suppl. 1018/1 *Ground-based..radio duct. 1965Punch 7 Apr. 506/2 A report just published by the National Academy of Sciences (counterpart of the Royal Society) surveys the requirements of ‘ground-based’ astronomy over the next ten years.
1615G. Sandys Trav. 88 Vntil rowzed from our *ground-beds by the report of the Cannon.
1859Amer. Cycl. III. 282/1 The hawks are platform-builders, *ground-builders, occupants of hollow trees, &c.
1863Atkinson Stanton Grange 114, I think the mouse has the odds in an attack on a *ground-building bee's nest.
1959Motor Man. (ed. 36) 4 The chassis frame cannot be lowered beyond a certain point without endangering the *ground clearance of the car.
1610W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. iv. 9 The Goates of Angori are hung with shag *ground-deepe.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §15 The *grounde ende of a yonge asshe.
1938Burlington Mag. Sept. 115/1 The loosely-woven linen *ground-fabric is entirely covered..with rich ornament. 1967E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 19 These all entail cutting away part of the ground fabric.
1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 611 Sturgeons are *ground-feeders.
1938Brit. Birds XXXII. 222 An attempt to measure the frequency of association in the same fields of the more conspicuous *ground-feeding birds was made.
1859Darwin Orig. Spec. v. (1873) 108 the larger ground-feeding birds seldom take flight except to escape danger.
1626Bacon Sylva §530 To make the Herbe grow contrary to his Nature; As to make *Ground-Herbs rise in Heighth.
1851Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi W. i. 205 To let the *ground-leaves of the place confer A natural bowl.
1910Daily Chron. 8 Mar. 1/6 The Parisian ‘star’, returning to her room at midnight, sees a strange object approaching her *ground-level windows from the garden. 1959Times 22 Aug. 9/4 Being nearer to eye-level can be better appreciated than when at ground-level in the border or rockery.
1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. ii. xiii. (1810) 368 That the Artillery might play as well by night as day himself did take and score out his *ground-markes.
1671Milton P.R. ii. 280 And now the Herald Lark Left his *ground-nest. 1833H. Martineau Briery Creek vi. 134 A lark sprang up from the ground-nest where she was sitting solitary.
1875Field & Forest I. 10 It was a very neat structure, and looked to me as though the owner was habitually a ‘*ground-nester’. 1964A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 524/1 Other non-passerines may be broadly divided into ground-nesters, hole-nesters, and the builders of simple nests in trees.
1880A. R. Wallace Isl. Life 79 The seeds becoming attached to the plumage of *ground-nesting birds.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. in Sylva, etc. (1729) 231 The Air *Ground-pipe, laid..in the middle of the Floor.
1867F. Francis Angling i. (1880) 55 Barbel, which are a *ground-routing fish.
1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) II. 645 The lowness and original swampiness of the *ground-soil.
1829Coleridge Garden of Boccaccio 66, I..sit on the *ground-sward.
1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices (1556) 59 For of all thinges whereoute anie gayne is sought, nothing is better than *ground tilth.
a1881Rossetti House of Life iv, The *ground-whirl of the perished leaves of Hope.
b. attributive (sense II), often quasi-adjectival = ‘fundamental’, † ‘deep-seated’, etc., as ground-basis, ground-fact, ground-faith, ground-feature, ground-form, † ground-harm, † ground-hate, ground-idea, ground-principle, ground-quality, ground-root, ground-sense, ground-thought, ground-tint, ground-tone, etc.
Many of these formations are recent imitations of German compounds of grund, such as grundform, grundgedanke, grundidee, etc.
1920T. P. Nunn Education 156 The function of the self-regarding sentiment is to exercise control over the ‘objective’ sentiments that form the *ground-basis of the self.
1905Spectator 11 Mar. 353/1 The underlying *ground-fact of Russia, the inadequacy of her food-supply.
1871R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 37 In the absence of this *ground-faith.
1807tr. Goede's Trav. Eng. II. 221 The *ground-features of his portrait must be natural.
1847J. D. Morell Hist. View Philos. (ed. 2) I. i. 118 The native construction of the intellectual faculty..contains all those *ground-forms of the understanding, by which knowledge from experience can be assimilated. 1879J. A. H. Murray Addr. Philol. Soc. 611 From the ground-form—Ostyak ma, Samoyed man. 1881Amer. Jrnl. Math. IV. 41 Tables of the..Groundforms of the Binary Duodecimic. 1938J. R. Carpenter Ecol. Gloss., Ground form, elementary form, as distinguished from growth form.
c1400Destr. Troy 1431 A light wrathe..growes into *ground harme.
Ibid. 1403 Thurgh vnhappe of þat kynde..Myche greuance shall groo & a *ground hate.
1865Sat. Rev. 7 Jan. 16/1 Moulding his *ground-idea into a poetical whole. 1872J. Morley Voltaire 299 When we come to the ground idea of the Essay on Manners.
1847J. D. Morell Hist. View Philos. (ed. 2) I. 3 The primary efforts of reason to get at the *ground principles of human knowledge were naturally weak and imperfect. 1873M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma (1876) 89 This was the very ground-principle in Jesus Christ's teaching.
1897Hardy Well-Beloved ii. iii, Avice..had yet possessed a *ground-quality absent from her rivals. Ibid. iii. vii, Pierston heard a voice below, the accents of a woman. They had a ground quality of familiarity, a superficial articulation of strangeness.
a1569A. Kingsmill Man's Est. xi. (1580) 65 That this love might take a more *groundroote in our hartes.
1909E. B. Titchener Text-bk. Psychol. i. 116 The sense of smell..is also a *ground-sense:..our own disregard of smell sensations is largely due to our assumption of the upright position.
1873M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma (1876) 266 Righteousness is its *ground-thought.
1875tr. Vogel's Chem. Light vii. 59 The painter indeed contents himself with three *ground tints—yellow, blue, and red.
1841–4Emerson Ess., Poet. Wks. (Bohn) I. 157 We hear, through all the varied music, the *ground-tone of conventional life. 1874H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. iii. §3. 199 David's psalms reveal the ground-tone and key-notes of Nathan's prophecies. 1909Westm. Gaz. 8 Mar. 5/2 Her sash will repeat the ground-tone of her dress.
†c. With adjs. and pples. = ‘to the bottom’, hence ‘completely, thoroughly, extremely’, as ground-filled ground-hot, ground-laden, ground-stalwart. (Cf. G. grundfalsch, etc.) Obs.
c1205Lay. 1088 Þa scipen weoren igreþede, mid gode grund fulled. Ibid. 1106 Feower scipen greate þe weren grund ladene. Ibid. 5692 Ofte heo letten grund-hat læd gliden heom an heore hæfd. c1300Havelok 1025 Þe ston was mikel, and ek greth,..Grund stalwrthe man he sholde be, Þat mouthe liften it to his kne.
d. In Aviation, as ground alert, ground attack, ground boost, ground control (landing, etc., by instrument direction from the ground; so ground control(led) approach (abbrev. G.C.A.), ground controller); ground crew, ground cushion, ground defence, ground effect, ground engineer, ground loop (so as vb.; also ground looping vbl. n.); ground marker, ground mechanic, ground organization, ground position, ground resonance, ground school, ground speed, ground staff, ground stunt, ground support, ground troops, ground wallah; ground-based adj.; ground-straf(f)ing vbl. n. (so, as a back-formation, ground-strafe v. trans., ground-strafer); ground-to-air, ground-to-ground, used esp. as attrib. phrs.
1965H. Kahn On Escalation 294 A *ground-alert bomber.
1917‘Contact’ Airman's Outings i. vii. 203 We shall see a great extension of *ground attacks by air cavalry. 1954Economist 11 Sept. 11/1 In some countries..special aircraft for ground attack duties only have been developed.
1960Times 23 Feb. 5/3 In the semi⁓active homing system a *ground-based radar illuminates the target. 1965H. Kahn On Escalation ix. 171 Ground-based missiles.
1930Flight 14 Mar. 305/2 Supercharging was the expression used to denote restoring the ground h.p. at some height, while *ground boost was used to get increased power at ground level.
1933Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVII. 31 How would he suggest the air control and *ground control should be organised there? 1945Newsweek 20 Aug. 42/3 GCA (Ground Control Approach) which permits blind landings of planes through overcast. 1969Listener 1 May 596/1 He explained to ground control what was happening and ordered the crew to bail out.
1945Amer. Speech XX. 309/2 GCA, *Ground Controlled Approach, Ground radar landing system. 1959R. Collier City that wouldn't Die vii. 105 His navigator..was in minute-by-minute touch with the new G.C.I. (Ground Controlled Interception).
1958Listener 21 Aug. 259/1 It is the *ground controllers' job to see that collisions do not happen. 1970Daily Tel. 15 Apr. 1/7 Ground controllers..decided against a speed-up plan that would have brought Apollo 13 down by tomorrow night.
1934Sci. Amer. Feb. 83 (caption) The *ground crew guiding the ship [sc. airship] into the hangar. 1940Flight 7 Nov. b/2 The efficient devotion of ground crews and excellence of material is responsible for the trouble-free journeys made each night. 1952Ann. Reg. 1951 109 The Government announced that pilots and ground crews had won 154 U.S. decorations.
1949Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIII. 317/1 For take-off at altitude, a strong ‘*ground cushion’ is an advantage. 1956N.Y. Times 8 Jan. p. X 41/5 The issue revolves about a phenomenon peculiar to helicopters known as ground cushion effect. What it means is this: Up to ten or twelve feet off the ground, or over water, a helicopter receives added buoyancy by the packed mass of air churned downward from the overhead rotors.
1952R. Sherbrooke-Walker Khaki & Blue i. 3 The problem became acute when ‘*Ground Defence’ came along in the early days.
1935Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 277 The machine was a high wing monoplane and one would not expect much ‘*ground effect’. 1938Aeronaut. Res. Committee Rep. & Mem. No. 1865 1 General formulae for..corrections to ground effect have been obtained for wings of any span. 1959Observer 18 Jan. 15/4 The principle on which the Hovercraft is built has a good deal in common with an infuriating phenomenon known to pilots as ‘ground effect’, which occurs when certain types of aircraft come in to land. Their closeness to the ground creates something akin to a pad of air on which the aircraft floats tantalisingly a foot or so above the runway instead of sinking to the ground. 1966Electronics 17 Oct. 131 It would be carried on anything from a hydrofoil craft and a ground-effect machine, which rides over water and land on a cushion of air, to helicopters and pilotless drone aircraft.
1920Flight 11 Nov. 1182/2 Under present arrangements, a machine is supposed to receive an inspection by a *ground engineer. 1928Daily Mail 9 Aug. 7/1 Ground engineer of the London Aero Club. 1932D. Garnett Rabbit in Air i. 7 The ground engineer gave us pamphlets about the Flying Club. 1958‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose i. 2 He had a ground engineer.
1921Flight 5 May 315/2 The aeroplane has a tendency to *ground loop in landing or in taxying in a strong wind. 1928Daily Mail 7 May 6/4 Ground Loops.—Touching the ground and rising again. 1959F. D. Adams Aeronaut. Dict. 86/1 Ground loop, 1. a violent, whirling turn of an airplane while moving on the ground... 2. loosely, a nose⁓over.
1937Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 829 The author investigates some of the causes of so-called ‘*ground looping’, i.e., the instability observed with certain machines when landing in a cross wind and which causes them to swing violently after touching ground. 1950Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) i. 11 Ground looping, an uncontrollable violent turn of an aircraft while taxying, alighting or taking-off.
1944Times 26 Apr. 4/1 A number of crews were bombing from a clear sky while others at the same moment were aiming at the *ground markers through the clouds.
1935C. Day Lewis Time to Dance 57 But those hands have been always The *ground mechanics of our wide-wing pride.
1920Proc. Air Conference, London 11 A problem of considerable difficulty is the *ground organisation for night flying. 1933Discovery Dec. 367/1 All these difficulties could..be got over if there was a good ground organization and aircraft..to operate at such heights with multi-engines.
1951Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 7 *Ground position, the position on the earth vertically below an aircraft.
1940Jrnl. Aeronaut. Sci. Aug. 449/2 A series of high-speed motion pictures were taken of a turning rotor which was made to oscillate in *ground resonance. 1959F. D. Adams Aeronaut. Dict. 86/1 Ground resonance, a self-excited, mechanical, potentially destructive vibration of a rotary-wing aircraft in operation on the ground or surface, involving a coupling between the motion of the rotor blades and the motion of the supporting structure or the motion of the aircraft as a whole on its landing gear.
1924Webster Addenda, *Ground school, a school giving courses in aërodynamics, map-making, photography, etc., for aviators.
1917Blackw. Mag. May 805/2 Our *ground speed was now a good deal greater than if we had travelled directly west. 1924Webster Addenda, Ground speed, the horizontal component of the velocity of an aircraft relative to the earth. 1928C. F. S. Gamble N. Sea Air Station i, If there be no wind..a very much greater ‘ground speed’ has to be attained..before the machine will gain enough flying speed for the wings to take some load off the floats, and eventually enable the machine to ‘take-off’ from the surface of the sea. 1967F. G. Mercer Applied Aviation Sci. viii. 48 An airplane flying eastward at a true airspeed..of 120 mph in still air, will have a ground speed exactly the same—120 mph.
1933P. Fleming Brazilian Adv. iv. 35 He..joined the *ground staff of an aerodrome there. 1957R. W. Zandvoort et al. Wartime English 8 Aircrew,..a collective term for flying personnel, as opp. to ground staff.
1943C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake 35 *Ground-strafe, to attack ground objectives.
1938Flight 15 Sept. 222/2 The *ground-strafer's weapon should be..the light bomb.
1928C. F. S. Gamble N. Sea Air Station iv, ‘*Ground-straffing’ by low-flying machines. 1934V. M. Yeates Winged Victory i. iii. 31 Unfortunately they were good machines for ground-strafing. They could dive straight down on anything, and when a few feet off the ground, go straight up again. 1941Times Weekly 5 Feb. 8 In Libya..air activity was mainly confined to protective fighter patrols for our advancing troops and ground-strafing of the retreating enemy between Derna and Barce. 1943Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 38 Ground-strafing, low-flying attack on transport or trenches; careless driving by servicemen. 1963S. Douglas Years of Combat viii. 194 Ground strafing..had been a somewhat haphazard sort of business.
1917‘Contact’ Airman's Outings i. vii. 196 Fighting squadrons soon caught the craze for *ground stunts and carried it well beyond the lines. 1953Aero Digest Oct. 37/3 An entire system of enemy destruction..includes a four-jet delta-wing supersonic bomber including its..reconnaissance, training, ground support and logistics systems.
1956W. A. Heflin U.S.A.F. Dict. 238/2 *Ground support, 1. either close air support or general air support. 2. the maintenance and care of flying equipment by the ground echelon. 1962J. Glenn in Into Orbit 11, I flew..jets for sixty-three ground-support missions. 1967Technology Week 20 Feb. 41/3 Design openings include development of..ground support equipment.
1920Flight 10 June 624/1 Radio-Telephony.. Procedure.—Ground to air and vice versa. The following illustrates the procedure adopted for work between a *ground and an air station.
1945Aeroplane 30 Nov. 619/2 An interesting point about the German development of air-to-air and *ground-to-air weapons was the way in which ‘pukka’ aircraft designers were brought in to design missiles. 1951Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 18 Ground-to-air communication, one-way communication from ground stations to aircraft. 1958Observer 15 June 18/6 The Russians can be assumed to be building ground-to-air missiles that are every bit as good.
1920Flight 10 June 624/2 Radio Telephony..Procedure.—*Ground to ground. The following abbreviated procedure to be used between ground stations A and B. 1943L. Cheshire Bomber Pilot 18 It was ground-to-ground tracer, firing east and so probably British. 1958Times 11 Sept. 4/5 The huge Corporal ground-to-ground guided missile.
1941Flight 6 Feb. 107/2 A Rhodesian squadron has been giving support to the *ground troops.
1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 112 *Ground wallah, an Air Force term for a member of the R.A.F. whose duties were concerned with administrative, or office and aerodrome technical work.
18. a. Special combs.: ground-air (see quot.); ground and lofty, applied to acrobatic feats or performers on the ground and on a rope, etc.; also transf.; ground-angling, fishing with a weighted line without a float, bottom-fishing (Dict. Rust. 1704); similarly ground angler; ground-bailiff, a superintendent or inspector of mines (Simmonds Dict. Trade, 1858); ground ball Cricket and Baseball = grounder 3 c; ground-bass Mus., a bass-passage of four or eight bars in length, constantly repeated with a varied melody and harmony (Stainer & Barrett, 1876); also fig., an undercurrent; ground-beam, ‘the sill of a frame’ (Cent. Dict.); ground-bowler (see quot. 1934); ground-breaking a. (cf. break v. 44 c fig.); ground-bridge U.S. (see quot.); ground-bundle Anat., one of the bundles of nerve-fibres lying on either side of the grey matter of the spinal cord; ground-cable, that portion of a mooring-cable which is intended to lie on the sea-bottom; ground chain Naut. (see quot.); ground-chamber, a chamber on the ground-floor; ground cloth, (a) (see quot. 1919); (b) = ground-sheet; ground-colour, (a) a first coating of paint (cf. 6 b); (b) the prevailing colour of any object, diversified with markings of other colours; ground cover, the plants covering the surface of the earth, esp., in horticulture, plants whose low, spreading habit of growth smothers weeds; so ground-coverer; ground-crab, a kind of hoisting-apparatus used in mining (see quot.); ground detector Electr., any instrument which is used to detect an accidental connection to earth in a circuit; † ground-drawer, -drove, (see quots.); † ground-ebb, low water; also as adj., at low water; ground-end Mining (see quot.); ground-fast a., firmly fixed in the ground; † also as n., that which holds a thing firm; ground-fielding, fielding or stopping a cricket-ball near the ground; ground-fish, a fish which lives at the bottom of the water; ground-fishery, -fishing, fishing with the bait at or near the bottom of the water; ground-flat = ground-floor; ground force Mil. = land force; also attrib.; ground(-)frost, a frost on the surface of the ground, or in the upper layer of the soil (see also quot. 1963); ground-game, game which lives on the ground, as hares and rabbits; ground-grue dial. = ground-ice; † ground-hold, the anchors of a vessel; † ground-hop, a leap from the ground, in quot fig.; ground-itch (see quot.); ground-joint, the joining of one stone or course in masonry with the ground or course immediately below; ground-joist, a joist supporting the ground floor of a building (Dict. Archit. 1851); ground-keeper, (a) Cricket = ground-man; (b) a root vegetable accidentally left in the ground during harvesting; ground-landlord, the owner of the land which is leased for building on; ground-layer, † (a) one who lays a foundation; (b) in Pottery, etc., the workman who lays the ‘ground’ (sense 6 b); similarly ground-laying vbl. n.; ground level Physics = ground state; (see also 17 a above); ground-mail Sc., payment for burying-ground; ground-mass, the compact basal part of an igneous rock, in which the distinctive crystals are imbedded; † ground-measure, ? a dance set to a ‘ground’ or ground-bass; ground-moraine, subglacial till, boulder-clay; also attrib.; ground-net, a trawl or drag-net (Cent. Dict.); ground-niche, a niche having its base on a level with the floor or ground (Chambers Cycl. 1741, s.v. Niche); ground noise, in sound reproduction, noise that is introduced by the recording medium (e.g. needle hiss on a gramophone record); ground-note Mus. (see quot. 1877); also fig.; ground-officer, one who has charge of the grounds and lands of an estate; † ground-pillar, a supporting pillar; ground pin, a main pin or beam in any structure; so † ground-pinning, underpinning; ground-plane, the horizontal plane of projection in perspective drawing; † ground-planked a., ? having beds on the floor; ground-plumbing (see quot.); ground-provisions, root-crops suitable for food, as yams, potatoes, etc.; ground return U.S. = earth-return (a); ground-room, a room on the ground-floor; ground-rope, a rope by which the lower edge of a trawl is kept on the ground; ground-row, a row of gas-jets on the floor of a theatre-stage; ground rule, (a) Sport, a rule devised for a particular ground; (b) a basic principle; † ground-salt, a movement in the manege (see quot.); ground-seine, a form of seine or drag-net; ground-sheet, a waterproof sheet for spreading on the ground as a protection against damp; ground-sluice n., Mining (see quot. 1869); ground-sluice v., to wash down earth by means of a stream of water; so ground-sluicing vbl. n.; † ground-smooth a., level with the ground; † ground-sope (= Du. grond-sop), dregs, sediment (quots. c 725 and 14.. are obscure, perh. mistranslations; Palsgrave's rendering may be an error); ground-space, the area of ground occupied by a structure; † ground-stand, a standing place in the pit of a theatre; ground state Physics [tr. G. grundzustand, lit. ‘fundamental state’], the stationary state of lowest energy of a quantized system (as an atom or molecule); † ground-statheling, -stathelness, foundations; ground station Radio, a complex of buildings where radio and radar equipment is used in connection with aeronautical and aerospace projects; ground-story = ground-floor; ground-strake = garboard-strake (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867); ground-stroke Lawn Tennis, a stroke played near the ground, after the ball has hit the court; ground-substance Phys., the homogeneous matrix in which the structural elements of a tissue are embedded; ground-sweat slang, the grave; to take a ground-sweat, to lie in the grave; ground-sype (see quot.); ground-table Arch., the plinth or projecting course resting on the foundation of a wall; an earth-table; ground-tier, (a) the lowest tier of goods in a vessel's hold (Young Naut. Dict. 1846); (b) the lowest range of boxes in a theatre; ground-timbers, the main timbers laid on the keel of a ship, floor-timbers; ground-tissue Bot., the mass of cells separating the vascular bundles from each other and from the epidermis; † ground-toiled a., field-working; ground-torpedo, a torpedo fixed to the ground or bottom of the sea; ground-tow (see quot. 1794 and cf. 3 b above); † ground-wart, a small eminence resembling a wart; ground-water, -ways (see quots.); ground wave, the radio wave that passes from a transmitter to a receiver other than by reflection from the ionosphere, comprising one or more of the direct wave, the ground-reflected wave, and the surface-wave; also attrib.; † ground-wind, a wind blowing at the level of the sea; opposed to rack-wind; ground wire Telegraphy (a) (see quot. 1893); (b) U.S., an earth wire, i.e. a wire that is connected to earth, either directly or through another earthed conductor (the usual sense); ground-worm, an earth-worm; ground zero, that part of the ground situated immediately under an exploding bomb, esp. an atomic one. Also ground-annual, ground-bait, ground-line, ground-man, etc.
1886Syd. Soc. Lex., *Ground air, the air contained in the soil. This contains a large portion of carbonic acid gas due to the disintegration of organic substances.
1796Gazette of U.S. (Philad.) 19 Nov. (Advt.) (Th.), *Ground and Lofty Tumbling [at the Pantheon, Philadelphia]. 1840Southern Lit. Messenger VI. 386/1 He is an adept in the art of walking on his head, turning somersets, and ground and lofty tumbling generally. 1843T. Weed Let. 19 July (1866) 108 A strolling company of ‘Ground and Lofty’ Tumblers. 1898J. Hollingshead Gaiety Chron. viii. 330 The ‘talented Cocksure family’ in their celebrated ground and lofty performance. 1907M. C. Harris Tents of Wickedness iii. iv. 260 He has resigned his parish, left the ministry and bought a seat on the Stock Exchange. Isn't that ground and lofty tumbling?
1848Chambers' Inform. People I. 683/2 Remarkably fine gut ought to be used by all *ground anglers.
1839Bell's Life 13 Oct., It was for the umpire at the bowler's end to decide whether it was a ‘*ground’ ball. 1851J. Pycroft Cricket Field vii. 99 The toss, the tice, the half volley, the long hop, and ground balls. 1948P.C.C. Chron. (Pasadena, Calif.) 7 May 4/5 Salter hit a hard ground ball to shortstop Bill Davis.
1699Wanley in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 274 'Tis very like such a common *ground-Bass as this. 1955A. L. Rowse Expansion Eliz. Eng. ii. 76 Their correspondence, their reports on the condition of their dioceses, always come back to this ground-bass. 1963Guardian 20 Feb. 7/1 With rising unemployment, scarcer money, and a mutinous groundbass already discernible about the new rates householders will soon be called upon to pay, this could be a vintage year for bailiffs. 1968Listener 23 May 657/3 These highlights apart, there is a ground bass of beatings, shootings and torture, all weltering in blood.
1874Baily's Mag. June 225 The club has an efficient staff of *ground bowlers. 1891W. G. Grace Cricket xi. 314 So pleased were the authorities of the M.C.C. with his [sc. W. Gunn's] first display at Lord's, that they made him the offer of a place as one of the ground-bowlers. 1934W. J. Lewis Lang. Cricket 113 Ground-bowler, a professional bowler attached to a club as a member of its ‘ground staff’.
1907W. James Let. 6 Oct. (1920) II. 299, I am going to settle down to the composition of another small book, more original and *ground-breaking than anything I have yet put forth (!). 1965Language XLI. 138 She has had to do groundbreaking work in establishing the phonological..correspondences between a number of foreign languages and Russian in the 16th and 17th centuries.
1859Bartlett Dict. Amer., *Ground Bridge, the well-known corduroy road of the South, laid on the bed of a creek or other body of water, to render it fordable.
1893H. Morris Treat. Anat. 781 The anterior *ground bundle appears to be continuous with the posterior longitudinal bundle..The lateral ground bundle is a mixed tract.
1793Smeaton Edystone L. §129 Our *ground cables for the sloop could not yet be got ready.
1883Man. Seamanship for Boys 195 Q. What is *ground chain? A. A piece of small chain shackled to the anchor shackle,..of sufficient length to come through the hawse pipe when the anchor is high enough for catting.
1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 169 The *ground chambers were large. 1886Willis & Clark Cambridge I. 223 The first floor, as usual, overhangs the ground-chamber.
1919W. B. Faraday Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms 54 *Ground cloth, a floor covering, usually of canvas, placed on the ground under an envelope to protect it from damage. 1931T. S. Stribling Forge xxiv. 204 The oilcloths were for raincoats or for ground cloths, or they could be propped up with sticks for tents.
1614T. Jackson Creed ii. 286 This conceit..serues as a *ground colour for disposing mens soules to take the sable dye of Hell. 1658–9Burton's Diary (1828) III. 558 Do..as Zeuxis did, who painted for eternity; which you can never do, unless your ground-colours be well laid. 1849Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia III. 147 In adult specimens the ground-colour of the back is yellowish-white, with markings varying from dark gray to dusky black. 1860Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. viii. iv. 192 The ground-colours then to be laid firmly... On this first colour, the second colours. 1904W. H. Hudson Green Mansions vi. 72 A coral snake..its ground colour a brilliant vermilion. 1912W. R. Ogilvie-Grant Catal. Birds' Eggs Brit. Mus. V. 105 The ground-colour varies from greyish-white to very pale greyish-green. 1970H. E. Smith Bantams iii. 20 Females..should be chosen for clear ground colour.
1900L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Hort. II. 629/2 In suitable soil they [sc. Gaultherias] are apt to form a handsome, evergreen *ground-cover. 1906Westm. Gaz. 31 May 4/2 As soon as the ground-cover was gone, the soil lost its moisture. 1946Nature 13 July 71/1 Sparse ground-cover of herbs and dense undergrowth of hawthorn, bird-cherry, etc. 1970G. S. Thomas Plants for Ground-Cover i. 3 Ground-cover can be of any height in nature or in the garden. Ibid. 4 The use of ground-cover plants may be the epitome of natural gardening.
1970G. S. Thomas Plants for Ground-Cover p. xvii, Herbaceous plants..were limited to the stalwart clump-formers and the *ground-coverers.
1851Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumbld. & Durh. 17 *Ground crabs are used in sinking, for lowering the sinking set of pumps as the pit is deepened.
1904Swenson & Frankenfield Testing Electro-Magn. Mach. I. 36 Figure Q shows a General Electric *Ground Detector. 1958Van Nostrand's Sci. Encycl. (ed. 3) 768/1 Lamp type ground detectors are used to a considerable extent on low-voltage circuits because they are reliable and cheap.
1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 7 b/1 If the bullet sticke faste in anye bone, we drawe him forth with that instrument which we call Extractor or *Grownde-drawer. Ibid. 13 b/2 This Grounde-drawer is verye acute on his end, becaus the bullet might sticke fast therone.
1819Rees Cycl., *Ground drove, in a Mine, is said of such parts as have been worked, or excavated for the ore or minerals.
a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 669 God..whan þat his lust was, withdrow þe flood Of welþe, & at *grounde ebbe sette he me. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 50 The floode was passed and sodainly of newe A lowe ground ebbe was fast by the strond. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6680 It may noȝt full wele be sene Bot when the se grounde eb bene.
1819Rees Cycl., *Ground-end, of a Mine, signifies the forefield or foremost place of working, in the whole or footground.
c1680Hickeringill Hist. Whiggism Wks. (1716) I. 25 He is *ground-fast and safe, that keeps to this certain Principle of Truth. 1720D. Campbell in De Foe Life Ep. Ded. (1840) 15 In Yorkshire they kneel on a ground-fast stone, and say, All hail to the moon [etc.]. 1658Hoole Comenius' Vis. World (1672) 173 The Nave is the ground-fast [L. basis] of the Wheel. 1891Atkinson Last Giant Killers 215 Earth and sods and ground⁓fast rocks.
1884I. Bligh in Lillywhite Cricket Ann. 5 Our *ground fielding was both brilliant and effective.
1856Woodward Mollusca iii. 426 Immense quantities of crustacea and shell-fish are taken with the trawl, as well as *ground-fish. 1883E. P. Ramsay Food Fishes N.S. Wales 13 The Flathead is a ground-fish, but is found on a sandy bottom only.
1856Woodward Mollusca iii. 427 In North Britain an extensive *ground-fishery is conducted by means of long lines, often a mile in length.
1883J. Rennie Alph. Angling 64 It requires a finer top for fly-fishing than for trolling or *ground-fishing.
1865Daily Tel. 8 July, In the consulting-room on the *ground-flat.
1929F. P. Gibbons Red Napoleon ix. 222 The *ground forces were exposed constantly day and night to bomb and gas attacks from above. 1951Ann. Reg. 1950 322 Our people's ground forces must be strengthened continuously so that they can defeat any aggression. 1959N.Z. Listener 17 Apr. 6/3 The reduction in the ground forces of the United States and Britain impairs their ability to fight limited wars. 1965H. Kahn On Escalation vi. 128 Tactical nuclear weapons were a relatively small part of the NATO ground-force structure.
1900Daily News 12 Oct. 5/1 Towards night, the thermometer fell briskly, and it seemed probable that a sharp *ground frost would occur. 1958Hayward & Harari tr. Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago ii. viii. 249 Probably there's still ground frost in the mornings. 1963Meteorol. Gloss. (Met. Office) (ed. 4) 122 From 1906 to 1960, inclusive, the [British] Meteorological office practice was to record a ‘ground frost’ when the grass minimum thermometer reached 30°F or below... From 1 January 1961..no statistics have referred to ‘ground frost’. The use of the term ‘ground frost’ in forecasts signifies a grass minimum temperature below 0°C (32°F).
1872Spectator 5 Oct. 1262 To give the occupant a right to kill *ground-game (i.e., hares and rabbits). 1895Law Times 13 July 255 The Ground Game Act, 1880.
1835Farquharson in Phil. Trans. CXXV. 330 [At Alford] they call it *ground-gru; gru being the term by which they designate snow saturated with, or swimming in water.
1596Spenser F.Q. vi. iv. 1 Like as a ship with dreadfull storme long tost, Having spent all her mastes and her *ground-hold.
1602Carew Cornwall 37 a, Nay thei [farms] are taken mostly at a *ground-hop, before they fall, for feare of comming too late.
1823Thacker Mil. Jrnl. 177 Men infected with the *ground itch generated by laying on the ground.
1793Smeaton Edystone L. §149 The *ground joint of the work with the rock. Ibid. §199 The ground joint, or under-bed of each stone.
1876Haygarth's Cricket Scores v. 16 [G. H. Wright was engaged] on the Bramhall Ground, at Sheffield, where he still remains as *groundkeeper. 1938Nature 17 Sept. 530/1 Future policy..should aim at..the suppression of ground-keepers, always a fertile source of virus infection [in potatoes]. 1961New Scientist 30 Mar. 795/3 The mild winter has also meant that more beet crowns, ‘groundkeepers’ (the beet missed by the lifting machines), and common weeds infected by the virus will have lasted through the winter.
1719De Foe Crusoe ii. ii. (1840) 46 If they were *ground-landlords, he hoped if they built tenements on the land..they would..grant them a long lease. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. v. iii. §6 (1876) 502 A tax on ground-rent, one would suppose, must fall on the ground-landlord.
1603Jas. I Sp. Parlt. (1604) B, Hee was also the first *ground-layer of the other Peace. 1898Daily News 8 June 2/5 Employed as a ground-layer at Stoke.
1884C. T. Davis Manuf. Bricks etc. 89 In fine enamelling, *ground-laying is the first process.
1923H. L. Brose tr. Sommerfeld's Atomic Struct. & Spectral Lines vi. 325 In our diagram the absorption lines would have to be represented by arrows that start out from the natural or *ground level and are directed upwards. 1953L. H. Aller Astrophysics 25 The excitation potential in ev is the potential through which a bombarding electron must drop in order to acquire sufficient energy to excite an atom from the ground level to the level in question.
1818Scott Br. Lamm. xvi, ‘Reasonable charges?’ said the sexton; ‘ou, there's *grund-mail—and bell-siller..and the kist’.
1879Rutley Study Rocks x. 168 In many cases felsite, or the *groundmass of porphyries, consists of a microscopically fine-grained aggregate.
1621B. Jonson Masque Augurs A 4, Very sufficient Beares as any..and can dance..and play their owne tunes..the Beareward offers to play them with any Citie-Dancers, christned, for a *ground measure.
1863A. C. Ramsay Phys. Geog. xxiv. (1878) 395 *Ground-moraine matter, the moraine profonde of Swiss and French authors. 1880A. R. Wallace Isl. Life ix. 169 The ground-moraine, consisting of mud and imbedded stones.
1929Trans. Soc. Motion Picture Engin. XIII. 53 *Ground noise, any noise due to foreign matter or imperfections in or on the film arising during manufacture, processing or handling; does not include amplifier or photoelectric cell noises. 1938Motion Picture Sound Engin. (Acad. Motion Pict. Arts & Sci.) iv. 44 Such a system..will differ from the ideal in several respects, one of which is the introduction of ‘ground noise’ during the recording process. 1942Electronic Engin. XIV. 709 The fundamental failing of the disk is the fact that reproduction of the full frequency range recorded involves the production of atrocious scratch... We must not regard this ground noise as a defect altogether beyond improvement.
1877Stainer Harmony vii. §77 The note on which a common chord is built..is called by some the Fundamental Bass, by others the Root or *Ground-note. 1878N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 305 Seriousness is..the ground-note of his temperament.
1815Scott Guy M. vii, Their asses were poinded by the *ground-officer when left in the plantations.
c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 779/15 Hec basys, the *grownd-pelyr.
1632Vicars æneid ii. 44 We..hack in twain The joyn'd crosse beams, and rais'd the *ground-pins main. a1633Austin Medit. (1635) 284 The ground-Pins of this Cottage begin to faile. 1843J. C. Frémont Exped. (1845) 54 Our lodge had been planted, and, on account of the heat, the ground pins had been taken out, and the lower part slightly raised.
1507–8in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 415 Cronall laboranti circa facturam muri superioris coquine, et *grownde-pynnyng, et circa tegulacionem coquine. 1762Forster in Phil. Trans. LII. 476 The ground-pinning of some houses, which had been burnt down.
1833Herschel Astron. viii. 271 The ecliptic is the plane to which an inhabitant of the earth most naturally refers the rest of the solar system, as a sort of *ground-plane. 1871J. R. Dicksee Perspective 32 Ground plane, the plane on which objects to be represented stand.
1632Lithgow Trav. viii. 360, I stayed in a Spaniards house..who kept a roguish Taverne, and a *ground planked Hospitality.
1704Dict. Rust., *Ground-plumbing, is to find out the depth of Water in fishing.
1827O. W. Roberts Central Amer. 108 The raising of stock, and cultivation of *ground provisions.
1893E. J. Houston Electr. Transmiss. Intell. i. 9 The line wire or conductor may form what is technically known as a *ground-return circuit. Ibid. 10 This is..called a ground-return, because the ground acts as the return conductor. 1968Fink & Carroll Stand. Handbk. Electr. Engin. (ed. 10) xiv. 3 In d-c transmission ground return can be used as one conductor. This means that each separately insulated transmission conductor, together with the ground-return path, forms a separate electric circuit.
1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 294 The *ground-rooms of the House. 1798Edgeworth Pract. Educ. (1822) I. 342 Locked up in a ground-room.
1874Holdsworth Deep-sea Fishing i. 58 The curved lower margin of the mouth of the trawl is fastened to and protected by the ‘*ground rope’. This..answers the useful purpose of keeping the edge of the net on the ground.
1881Daily News 28 Dec. 2/1 The light distributed about the stage from concealed ‘battens’ and ‘*ground rows’.
1890H. C. Palmer Stories of Base Ball Field 70 In the olden days there was a *ground rule which only allowed two bases for a hit over this fence. 1953Manch. Guardian Weekly 27 Aug. 1 Ground rules of American press-conferences. 1965G. McInnes Road to Gundagai vi. 104 His ground⁓rules were so elastic. 1967M. McLuhan Medium is Massage 68 The groundrules, pervasive structure, and overall patterns of environments elude easy perception.
1614Markham Cheap Husb. i. ii. (1668) 23 To pass them about in *ground-salts, as by taking up his fore-Legs from the ground both together, and bringing his hinder Feet into their place.
1874Holdsworth Deep-sea Fishing iv. 157 Seans may be divided into three classes, namely, the sean proper,..the ‘tuck-sean’, and the ‘*ground or foot-sean’.
1907Daily Chron. 15 Mar. 9/5 *Groundsheet (waterproof). 1928Daily Express 12 May 5/5 Some of the motorists were having tea in the cars, and some had spread ground⁓sheets and cushions on the ground. 1959S. Clark Puma's Claw v. 65 We could not afford heavy luxuries like..groundsheets. 1970Which? May 132/1 The other half of the outer tent (the living room) does not have a groundsheet.
1869R. B. Smyth Goldf. Victoria 612 *Ground-sluice, a channel cut in the bottom or bed-rock, into which the earth is conveyed by a stream of water.
1857Hutchings' Mag. July 8/1 Among the more important operations connected with gold mining upon an extensive scale, is ‘*ground sluicing’. 1860Harper's Mag. Apr. 612/2 Ground-sluicing accomplishes the same result..with the chance of obtaining from the upper earth some gold, which..would be lost by the first plan. 1862J. G. Walker Jrnl. Voy. N.Z. (1863) [1] Jan., We..watched a man ground-sluicing. 1865V. Pyke Goldfields Report in Appendices to Jrnls. House of Reps. N.Z. C. IVA. 10 Of the various methods of working, that of ground sluicing is most universally adopted—a ground sluice being nothing more than a rectangular drain cut for a depth of about a foot into the surface soil. 1874A. Bathgate Colonial Experiences viii. 91 In Otago, the principal kind of mining is ground-sluicing..similar to the method of working for tin in Cornwall. 1879R. J. Atcherley Boërland 138 Our host took us to his workings, where he was ground-sluicing.
c1520Barclay Sallust's Jugurth 71 a, Whan Marius came to any such towne..he set fyre in them and brent them *grounde smothe.
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) C 186 Cartilago, *grundsopa. c1440Promp. Parv. 216/1 Growndesope of any lycoure..fex, sedimen. 14..Nominale in Wr.-Wülcker 717/36 Hoc suber, intima pars corticis, Hoc abdomen, grundsope. 1530Palsgr. 228/1 Grounde soppe in lycoure, payn trempé.
1866Chambers's Jrnl. 18 Aug. 521/2 The houses..are large.., with very little accommodation, considering the *ground-space they occupy. 1908Westm. Gaz. 28 Mar. 9/2 All citizens are users or consumers of air, water, ground-space.
1659Lady Alimony i. iv, All our Galleries and *Ground-stands are long ago furnished.
1926H. L. Brose tr. Sommerfeld's Three Lect. Atomic Physics ii. 35 To every electron in its *ground state there belongs an original momentum s = ½. 1946Nature 26 Oct. 593/2 To evaluate D for a diatomic gas, it is necessary to examine the vibrational energy-levels of the ground-state. 1963B. Fozard Instrumentation Nuclear Reactors ii. 13 This is duly emitted as radiant energy as the excited electrons return to the ground state.
a1300E.E. Psalter cxxxvi. 7 Vnto þe *grond-staþelnes [v.r. groun⁓staþelinge] in it.
1919Radio Rev. Dec. 105 On aeroplanes, the problem of the reception of wireless signals is complicated... There is always so much noise that signals must be of much greater intensity than at *ground stations in order to be of any use. 1966Electronics 14 Nov. 58 The ground station, which was publicly introduced Nov. 10 in Melbourne, Fla., is also behind schedule and running 40% over cost expectations.
1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 103 You shall feel that heat above..in the *ground stories below, though your sieling be a foot thick. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 307 Brick walls in the basement and ground-stories of buildings.
1895H. W. W. Wilberforce Lawn Tennis 51 There are two ways in which a *ground-stroke may be taken, namely, at the top of the bound, and again quite late, when the ball is near the ground. 1970Times 5 June 14/6 His services and ground strokes were hit to a good length.
1882Quain's Elem. Anat. (ed. 9) II. 58 The *ground-substance, matrix or intercellular substance of the connective tissue.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Grownd-Sweat, a Grave. 1834F. Mahony Father Prout's Rem. (1836) II. 117 We waked him in clover, And sent him to take a ground-sweat.
1839Stonehouse Axholme 25 The water..is not spring water, but merely what is termed a *ground sype, i.e. water filtering through from the surface.
1640in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 97 Plinth and *Ground-table for y⊇ South Range.
1820W. Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 305 The hold of the ship must be cleared of its superstructure of casks, until the ‘*ground-tier’, or lowest stratum of casks, is exposed.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 2 Before you vse any plankes, they lay the Rungs, called floore timbers, or *ground timbers, thwart the keele. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §85 The interior ground timbers. 1881L. R. Hamersly Naval Encycl., Ground-timber, In making up the frame of a wooden ship, the timbers of the lower course are called ground-timbers.
1882Vines Sachs' Bot. 482 A loose spongy parenchyma..sharply defined from the firm compact *ground-tissue. 1895J. R. Green Man. Bot. I. 329 A mass of cells which constitutes the ground or fundamental tissue.
1632Lithgow Trav. viii. 359 Arabs, who falling downe from the Mountaines..upon the *ground toyled Moores [etc.].
1878N. Amer. Rev. CXXVII. 389 The *ground-torpedo is fired by a wire connected with a battery from the shore.
1669J. Cox in St. Papers, Dom. 574 The *ground tow sold to Mr. Gould is not fetched away. 1794Rigging & Seamanship 54 Ground-tow, the loose hemp that comes from the sides of the hatchellers and spinners.
1568C. Watson Polyb. 68 This hill is straitly incompassed with stepe rocks, hauing a plain on y⊇ very tippe..in y⊇ midst there is a *ground wart, which serueth for y⊇ watch-house.
1890Nature 27 Nov. 94 Mr. Latham defines ‘*ground water’ as all water found in the surface soil of the crust of the earth, except such as may be in combination with the materials forming the crust of the earth.
1927E. V. Appleton in Wireless World 5 Jan. 3/2 There is a very real difference between a *ground wave and an atmospheric wave if we consider the magnetic force in the wave as well as the electric wave. For a horizontally travelling ground wave, such as that which travels direct from transmitter to receiver, [etc.]. 1941K. Henney Radio Engin. Handbk. (ed. 3) xv. 514 The signal..may have been propagated either by the ground wave, which travels along the earth's surface, or by the sky wave. 1943F. E. Terman Radio Engineers' Handbk. x. 675 The surface wave..represents the whole of the ground wave when both transmitting and receiving antennas are located at the surface of the earth. 1965BBC Handbk. 115 The signals which carry domestic broadcasting programmes are usually designed to be received by ground-wave on medium and long waves. Ibid., Ground-wave propagation of short waves is not feasible over long distances.
1711W. Sutherland Shipbuilder's Assist. 160 *Ground-ways; large Pieces of Timber lying a-thwart the Bottom of a Dock, or Launch, to make the Foundation firm and substantial. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Ground ways, the large blocks and thick planks which support the cradle on which a ship is launched. Also, the foundation whereon a vessel is built.
1620T. Scott God & King (1633) 16 It is for me to observe the *ground-winde, not the rack-winde. 1621S. Ward Jethro's Justice (1627), It is the ground-wind, not the rack⁓winde, that driues mils and ships.
1893Sloane Stand. Electrical Dict., *Ground-wire, a metaphorical term applied to the earth when used as a return circuit. 1922J. C. Wright Automotive Repair II. 208 If the ground wire is disconnected the generator will build up an excessive pressure within itself. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XIV. 54/1 Lines built where severe thunderstorms are prevalent are equipped with overhead ground wires..for intercepting the lightning stroke and leading it to ground at the nearest tower.
1599A. M. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 158/2 For the Dropsye. Take *groundewormes, choppe..them smalle [etc.] 1830Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 147 Fools that we are! To dig and bore like ground-worms. 1844Emerson Lect. New Eng. Ref. Wks. (Bohn) I. 259 Ground-worms, slugs, and mosquitos.
1946N.Y. Times 7 July E10/1 The intense heat of the blast started fires as far as 3,500 feet from ‘*ground zero’. 1955Bull. Atomic Sci. Sept. 255/1 There was no noticeable contamination even at ground zero at Hiroshima.
b. In names of animals (denoting generally, in regard to birds, those of terrestrial habits; in regard to other animals, those that burrow, or lie in holes or on the ground); as ground-bear, the common brown bear, Ursus arctos (Cassell, 1884); ground-bee, a bee that nests in the ground; ground-beetle, a general name for all beetles of the family Carabidæ; ground-cuckoo, a member of one of the four genera of Neomorphinæ, a subfamily of the Cuculidæ; ground-dove, a dove or pigeon of terrestrial habits, esp. of the genera Chamæpelia and Geopelia (cf. ground-pigeon); ground-finch, (a) a bird of Swainson's sub-family Fringillinæ or true finches; (b) an American finch of the genus Pipilo (Cent. Dict.); ground-gudgeon, the loach; ground-hornbill, the African genus Bucorvus (or Bucorax) of horn-bills; ground-hornet, a hornet that has its nest on the ground; ground-lackey, -lark, -lizard, -mite (see quots.); ground-mouse U.S., a field mouse of the genus Reithrodontomys; ground-parrakeet, any bird of the genera Geopsittacus and Pezoporus; ground-parrot, (a) = prec.; (b) the Kakapo of New Zealand (Strigops habroptilus); ground-pearl, -pig (see quots.); ground-pigeon, a pigeon which passes most of its time on the ground; esp. one of the family Gouridæ; also = ground-dove; ground-puppy = hellbender; ground-rat (see ground-pig); ground rattler U.S. (see quot. 1931); ground-robin U.S., any of several small American buntings, esp. the most common one, Pipilo erythrophthalmus; see cheewink; ground-roller (see quot. and roller); ground-scratcher, a name for the Rasores or gallinaceous birds; ground-seal, a large species of seal; ground-shark, any species of shark that rarely comes to the surface, esp. the spinous shark (Echinorrhinus spinosus); ground-sloth, one of an extinct group of New World herbivorous mammals of the group Edentata, intermediate between the existing sloths and ant-eaters; ground-snake (see quots.); ground-sparrow U.S., one of several sparrows of terrestrial habits, e.g. the grass-finch and savannah-sparrow (Cent. Dict.); ground-spearing, a fish (Trachinocephalus myops) found in the tropical parts of the Western Atlantic (1896 Jordan & Everman Fishes Amer. 296); ground-spider, any kind of spider that burrows or lives under stones; ground-thrush, (a) a thrush of the genus Geocichla; (b) a bird of the Australian genus Cinclosoma; (c) the pitta or ant-thrush; ground-tit, a small Californian bird (Chamæa fasciata), allied to the wrens and titmice; ground-wasp, a wasp that has its nest on the ground; ground woodpecker, a member of the family Picidæ that lives on the ground, esp. Colaptes campestris of South America and Geocolaptes olivaceus of South Africa; ground-wren, (a) the willow wren, Sylvia trochilus; (b) = ground-tit. Also ground-bird, ground-hog, ground-squirrel.
1849C. Brontë Shirley xxv, The nest..of some *ground⁓bees, which had burrowed in the turf under an old cherry-tree. 1890Ld. Lugard Diary 17 Apr. (1959) I. 195 Found ground bees' nest, and tried to dig it out, but it was some 16 inches down.
1848Rural Cycl. II. 532 *Ground beetle, a coleopterous insect, whose larva is found in corn-fields.
1883Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 134 The Malays..capture..*Ground Cuckoos. 1895Lydekker Nat. Hist. IV. 11 The four genera of ground-cuckoos, all of which are terrestrial birds with powerful feet for running.
1792M. Riddell Voy. Madeira 60 Five kinds of doves are natives of Antigua, of which the ramier and the *ground dove are the most beautiful. 1885Stand. Nat. Hist. IV. 247 The ground-doves, little creatures which pass their time on the ground almost exclusively.
1837W. Swainson Birds II. 122 The Fringillinæ may correctly be termed *ground finches; since, with scarcely an exception, they are all birds which habitually walk or hop in such situations.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Ground-gudgeon, a little fish, the Cobitis barbatula. 1880–4F. Day Fishes Gt. Brit. & Irel. II. 204 The loach..ground-bait or ground-gudgeon, Northumberland.
1883Cassell's Nat. Hist. III. 355 The *Ground Hornbills (Bucorax). These are an African form, of which there are two or three kinds.
1822Z. Hawley Tour 95 (Th.), A nest of *ground hornets, concealed under the logway. 1888Inglis Tent Life Tigerland 68, I have known an elephant to bolt..through the attacks of wasps or ground hornets.
1869E. Newman Brit. Moths (1874) 42 The *Ground Lackey (Bombyx castrensis)..Very abundant in the Isle of Sheppey.
1848Zoologist VI. 2290 The tree pipit is the ‘*ground lark’. 1849Ibid. VII. 2354 The bunting is the ‘ground lark’.
1792M. Riddell Voy. Madeira 65 The *ground lizard is commonly of the colour of the earth on which it creeps. 1885Stand. Nat. Hist. III. 432 Ameiva dorsalis, the ground lizard, is one of the most abundant lizards in Jamaica.
1839J. Buel Farmer's Comp. 99 Moles or *ground-mice cannot penetrate and find a shelter. 1883Harper's Mag. Aug. 462/2 A storm of expletives that must have startled the ground-mice and the birds.
1847Carpenter Zool. §840 The Trombiidæ, or *Ground-Mites, are distinguished by having the palpi converted into raptorial organs.
1865Gould Birds Austral. II. 87 The *Ground-Parrakeet is diffused over the whole of the southern portions of Australia, including Tasmania. 1885Stand. Nat. Hist. IV. 356 The crested ground-parakeet (Callipsittacus novæ-hollandiæ).
1794G. Shaw Zool. New Holland 10 Psittacus terrestris. The *Ground Parrot. 1827Vigors & Horsfield in Trans. Linn. Soc. XV. 278 Psittacus pulchellus... The settlers call it Ground Parrot. 1885Stand. Nat. Hist. IV. 351 The single genus Geopsittacus..is the ground-parrot of Southern and Western Australia. 1895Pop. Sci. Monthly Apr. 776 The Kakapo of New Zealand..also known as the ‘owl parrot’ or ‘ground parrot’.
1884Stand. Nat. Hist. II. 218 Another [bug] is the curious ‘*Ground Pearl’ of the Bahama Islands. It lives beneath the soil in crevices frequented by ants, and acquires a shell-like calcareous scaly covering.
1883Cassell's Nat. Hist. III. 133 In Sierra Leone it [Aulacodus Swinderianus] is known as the Ground Rat, or *Ground Pig.
1885Challenger Rep. I. ii. 535 A little *Ground Pigeon (Geopelia), not much bigger than a sparrow. 1885Stand. Nat. Hist. IV. 242 The Gouridæ comprises the great ground-pigeons..They are natives of the Papuan Archipelago. 1863*Ground Puppy [see hellbender].
1908Daily Chron. 29 Aug. 7/5 The red dog..jumped a *ground-rattler. 1931R. L. Ditmars Snakes of World x. 105 The Pygmy Rattlesnake or ‘Ground’ Rattler, Sistrurus miliarius, seldom more than sixteen to twenty inches long, has a rattle so minute it would be unnoticed outside a distance of about eight feet.
1794Philos. Soc. Trans. IV. 110 This bird was the chewink, or *ground robin. 1844J. E. De Kay Zool. N.Y. ii. 172 (heading) The Chewink or Ground Robin. Pipilo Erythrophthalmus. Ibid., This beautiful and unobtrusive little species is..known..under the name of Ground Robin. 1955Sci. News Let. 23 Apr. 271 The towhee is a bird of many aliases. ‘Ground robin’ is a popular name, and justified by his deceptively robin-like appearance.
1883Cassell's Nat. Hist. III. 364 In Madagascar..there are found the *Ground Rollers (Atelornis), extraordinary birds which live entirely on the ground, and only come out at dusk.
1840Blyth Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. (1849) 251 Rasores (*ground-scratchers)—the Poultry.
1868R. Brown in Proc. Zool. Soc. 427 The Grey Seal,..possibly this species may be confounded with the ‘*Ground-Seal’. 1880Standard 20 May 3 The ‘ground seal’, the largest of all the species.
1833Marryat P. Simple (1863) 217 There are several kinds of sharks, but the most dangerous are the great white shark and the *ground shark. 1885Stand. Nat. Hist. III. 76 The sleeper shark Somniosus microcephala..By the fishermen it is known as ground-shark or gurry-shark.
1860Owen (title), Memoir on the Megatherium, or Giant *Ground-Sloth of America. 1896B.M. Guide Fossil Mammals 69 The entire skeleton of the great extinct ‘Ground Sloth’.
1885Stand. Nat. Hist. III. 362 The genus Carphophis is very generally distributed; in the United States, the species amœna,..as the thunder, *ground, or worm-snake, is most familiar. Ibid. 363 The Coronella australis, or the Australian ground-snake.
1874B. F. Taylor World on Wheels ii. vii. 249 The *ground-sparrows build in its margins. 1882Vermont Agric. Rep. VII. 67 The blue bird, cat bird, wren and ground sparrows are acknowledged beneficial.
1867Amer. Naturalist Oct. 410 Some of the *ground spiders carry their eggs in a sack attached to the tip of their abdomen. 1880‘Silver & Co.’ S. Africa (ed. 3) 179 One of the great ground spiders in the Karroo districts..has a body 2½ inches long.
1869Gould Birds Austral. Suppl. 63 Cinctosoma castaneothorax,..this richly coloured and very distinct species of *Ground Thrush. 1881Brit. Mus. Catal. Birds V. 147 The genus Geocichla comprises a well-defined group of forty Thrushes, which may be distinguished as Ground-Thrushes. 1885Stand. Nat. Hist. IV. 467 The pittas, or ground-thrushes, are a group of insectivorous birds which inhabit the forests of the eastern tropics.
Ibid. 506 The so-called *ground-tit, or perhaps better wren-tit (Chamœa fasciata)..has very little in common with the true tits.
1880New Virginians I. 98 There is a small *ground-wasp, like the English wasp in shape and colour; and a very large ground-wasp, whose sting is very vicious.
1867E. L. Layard Birds S. Afr. 238 The Sub-Family, Colaptinæ, or *Ground Woodpeckers, have the bill broad at the base. 1958E. T. Gilliard Living Birds of World 258/2 Tunnels of the Ground Woodpecker are often several feet deep. 1964A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 896/2 The ‘ground woodpeckers’ prefer stumps or rotten branches where many insects (especially ants) have their favourite haunts.
1839Macgillivray Brit. Birds II. 371 Willow Wren. *Ground Wren.
c. In names of plants, generally denoting plants dwarfish in height and sometimes those of a trailing habit; ground-archil, Lecanora parella, a species of lichen used in dyeing (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1886); ground-berry, (a) U.S. = checker-berry (Cent. Dict.); (b) Austral. (see quot.); ground-birch, ? the dwarf birch (see birch 1 b); ground-box, Buxus sempervirens, the small variety used for edgings; ground-cedar (see quot.); ground-cherry, (a) the Dwarf Cherry, Cerasus Chamæcerasus; (b) an American plant of the genus Physalis; † ground-chestnut (see quot.); ground-cistus, Rhododendron Chamæcistus (Paxton Bot. Dict. 1840); ground-cypress, Santolina Chamæcyparissus (ibid.); ground-elder, a name for Sambucus Ebulus, Angelica silvestris, ægopodium Podagraria (Britten & Holland Plant-n. 1879), and Mercurialis perennis (Paxton); ground-enell (see quot. 1879); ground-fir = ground-pine (Cent. Dict.); ground-flax, the genus Camelina (Paxton); ground flower, a low-growing wild flower; † ground-furze = cammock; † ground-hele [ad. G. grundheil], Veronica officinalis; ground-hemlock, an American variety of the common yew, Taxus baccata; ground-holly = checker-berry (Syd. Soc. Lex.); ground-jasmine, Passerina Stelleri (Treas. Bot. 1866); ground-laurel, the Trailing Arbutus (Epigæa repens) of North America; † ground-myrtle, Butcher's Broom (Ruscus aculeatus); ground-needle, Erodium moschatum; ground-oak, (a) an oak-sapling; (b) a species of dwarf-oak; ground-plum, -rattan (see quots.); † ground-saligot, Tribulus terrestris; ground-sorrel (see quot.); ground-thistle, the cardoon (Cynara Cardunculus); ground-willow, a dwarf willow; also dial. = Polygonum amphibium (Britten & Holland); ground-yew = crowberry 1. Also ground-ash, ground-ivy, ground-pine.
1889J. H. Maiden Useful Pl. Australia 8 Astroloma humifusum..and A. pinifolium..Commonly called ‘*Ground⁓berry’.
1885Fenn This Man's Wife in Gd. Words 61 A dozen bundles of clean-looking *ground-birch sticks.
1578Lyte Dodoens vi. xxxii. 699 The smal Boxe is called..in Latine, Humi Buxus: that is to say, *Ground Boxe, or Dwarffe Boxe.
1836Backw. Canada 120 A trailing plant bearing a near resemblance to the cedar, which..has..a claim to the name of *ground or creeping cedar.
1601Holland Pliny I. 448 Certain dwarfe Cherries..called Chamecerasi (i. *ground cherry-shrubs). 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer., Ground cherry (Physalis),..sometimes called Winter Cherry.
1693C. Dryden in Dryden's Juvenal vii. (1697) Notes 185 Treuffles, in English call'd *Ground-Chest-nuts, or Pignuts.
1597Gerarde Herbal App., *Ground Enell is Venus combe. 1879Britten & Holland Plant-n., Ground Enell, Scandix Pecten. Hal. and Wr. print the name incorrectly Ground-evil.
1829A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 5) 336 Polygala polygama, *ground flower. 1902Daily Chron. 1 Apr. 2/1 At Easter there are but the ground-flowers. 1928D. Cottrell Singing Gold I. vi. 50 The cup-like tufts of the little white ground-flower, with the sweetest scent in all Australia.
1578Lyte Dodoens vi. x. 669 Cammocke or *ground Furze hath many small, lythey, or weake branches.
Ibid. i. xvii. 26 Paules Betony, Herbe Fluellyn, or Speede⁓well, *Ground-hele.
1807F. Pursh Jrnl. Bot. Excursion 20 July (1869) 64 Here I found..taxus braccata or procumbens, calld *Ground Hemlock. 1834J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. II. 170 The Ground Hemlock (Taxus canadensis), or Canadian Yew.
1848Rural Cycl. II. 532 *Ground-jasmine, an ornamental, evergreen, white-flowered, Siberian undershrub of the wild olive-tree family. It is regarded by some botanists as a Stellera, and by others as a sparrow-wort.
1814J. Bigelow Florula Bostoniensis 101 *Ground laurel..grows in woods. 1867Amer. Naturalist May 154 In the books, this plant is known as the ‘Epigea repens’, but otherwise as the Trailing Arbutus, May Flower, and Ground Laurel. 1877Bryant 27th Mar. 27 Within the woods Tufts of ground-laurel,..send their sweets Up to the chilly air. 1932P. A. Rydberg Flora Prairies & Plains Cent. N. Amer. 615 Epigaea L. Trailing Arbutus, Ground Laurel.
1601Holland Pliny II. 284 As for the herb Idæa, the leaues therof resemble those of *ground-Myrtle or Butchers broom.
a1400Med. MS. Gloss. in Archæol. XXX. 409 *Ground Nedle. Acus muscula. 1633Johnson Gerarde's Herbal App., Ground needle, Geranium muscatum.
a1723R. Hood & Little John in Child Ballads (1888) III. 135 Then Robin Hood stept to a thicket of trees, And chose him a staff of *ground-oak. 1805A. Wilson in Poems & Lit. Prose (1876) II. 144 Waving reeds and scrubby ground-oak grew Where stores and taverns now arrest the view.
1859Bartlett Dict. Amer., *Ground Plum (Astragalus caryocarpus), a plant growing on dry soil on the Mississippi River..The fruit, which is a pod, closely resembles a plum.
1823Crabb Technol. Dict., *Ground-ratan, the Rhapis flabelliformis. 1866Treas. Bot. 970/2 Rhapis flabelliformis is commonly called the Ground Rattan Palm, and is said to yield the walking-canes known by that name in this country.
1597Gerarde Herbal Table Eng. Names, *Grounde Saligot, that is Landcaltrops.
1775Clayton in Phil. Trans. LXVI. 100 *Ground-sorrel every where [in the Falkland Islands] abounds in the greatest plenty;..the flower it produces is exactly like the wild rose which grows in the hedges in England.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Cepa cavalle, *Ground thistle.
1875J. Croll Climate & T. xvi. 262 In a region where..the *ground-willow and dwarf-birch have to struggle for existence.
1674tr. Scheffer's Lapland 141 The thin leaved heath, that bears a Berry, which some call *ground Ewe.
▸ ground share n. Sport (chiefly Association Football) = ground sharing n. at Additions; (also) an arrangement to share in this way.
1986Guardian 3 May 12/1 Charlton, so destitute they had earlier this season..put together a *ground share scheme with Crystal Palace, are heading for the first division. 2005Blackpool Gaz. (Nexis) 14 May The Lions are in the second season of their groundshare with Sedgley Park RUFC in Whitefield, near Bury.
▸ groundshare v. Sport (chiefly Association Football) intr. (of a team) to share a home ground with at least one other team, esp. temporarily.
1987Sunday Times 8 Mar. 21/1 Clyde, who *groundshare with Thistle, seem to prefer the thought of sharing with greyhounds at their old ground, Shawfield. 2003Guardian 7 June i. 13/4 Fulham... Currently groundsharing with neighbours QPR under a two-year deal.
▸ ground sharing n. Sport (chiefly Association Football) the sharing of a home ground by two or more teams, esp. as a temporary arrangement.
1975Operational Res. Q. 26 811 *Ground sharing could mean reduced season tickets for both clubs. 2004Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 15 Dec. 10 He said there is no specific rule about groundsharing but added: ‘Everything comes down to a simple straight vote between the member clubs.’
▪ II. ground, v.|graʊnd|
Forms: 3 grundien, 4 north. grund, 4–6 grounde, grownde, 5–6 gronde, (7 grownd), 5– ground.
[ME. f. ground n.; cf. MDu., Du. gronden, MSw. grunda. For OE. gryndan see grind v.2]
†1. trans. To lay the foundations of (a house, etc.); to found; to fix or establish firmly. Obs.
Chiefly in renderings or echoes of biblical passages.
a1300E.E. Psalter viii. 4 Þe mone and sternes..Þat þou grounded to be swa. a1300Cursor M. 28853 Almus..es to þe sawl als a wall grunded ful fast and will noght fall. a1340Hampole Psalter xxiii. 2 He abouen þe seas grundid it. 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 86 The drye erthe hys handes hathe grounded. c1460Towneley Myst. viii. 90 Gret god, that all thys Warld began, and growndyd it in good degre. 1535Coverdale Luke vi. 48 That house..was grounded vpon y⊇ rocke. 1591Spenser Virg. Gnat 453 Th' Okes deep grounded in the earthly molde. 1627P. Fletcher Locusts iv. ii, Deep grounded on that Rocke most firmely stood.
fig.1555Eden Decades 327 Grounded vppon the foundation of truth. 1684Contempl. State Man i. iv. (1699) 45 How frail is all the Glory of the World, being Grounded upon so feeble a Foundation.
2. To set on a firm basis, to establish (an institution, a principle of action, belief, science, conclusion or argument), on some fact, circumstance, or authority.
a. const. on; also in (now only in pass.).
c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 1644 (1672) Moral vertue grounded vpon trouþe. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 332 He can not grounde þis lawe in reson. a1415Lydg. Temp. Glas 1199 Lat no dispeire hindir þe with drede, But ay þi trust opon hir merci grovnd. 1539Act 31 Hen. VIII c. 4 Actions of det..grounded vpon contract or specialties. 1581Nowell & Day in Confer. i. (1584) D b, You ground the credit of S. James Epistle..vpon these Councils. 1639Woodall Wks. Pref. (1653) 5 Galen saith..all arts are grounded upon experience and reason. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. iv. Wks. (1851) 111 The impossibility of grounding Evangelick government in the imitation of the Jewish Priest⁓hood. 1674tr. Scheffer's Lapland 74 They must necessarily have had some probabilities whereon they grounded their opinion. 1728Newton Chronol. Amended ii. 252 Nechepsos..invented Astrology, grounding it upon the aspects of the Planets. 1769Junius Lett. xix. Postscr. 85 It is..the law of the land, grounded upon the clearest principles of reason and common sense. 1789Durnford & East's Reports III. 467 The right of a seller to his goods, where he cannot receive payment for them, is grounded in conscience. 1838Thirlwall Greece II. 104 An oligarchy which grounded its political claims solely on superior wealth. 1875Helps Ess., Self-Discipline 16 Self-discipline is grounded on self⁓knowledge. 1884tr. Lotze's Metaph. 516 The nature and occurrence of these actions being..grounded in something external.
†b. simply.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 362 Þis state or power is þe vicar of þe godheede as it may be growndid here. ― Sel. Wks. III. 342 Firste shulde þe fend grownde þat þis pope is Petris viker. c1449[see groundable]. 1538Starkey England ii. iii. 198 Wythout that ther ys no gud ordynance can be stablyschyd nor grondyd. 1580Sidney Ps. xlii. v, Still my hope is grounded, That thy anger being spent, I by day thy love shall tast. 1603Florio Montaigne ii. xii. (1632) 32 Copernicus hath so well grounded this doctrine..that [etc.]. 1614Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 28 We knew not wherein to insist, nor where to ground a complaint. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 15 Yf he confesse, we may ground our sentence. a1628F. Grevil Alaham ii. iv. Poems (1633) 35 How should I ground a faith, that faithlesse know Myselfe to be? 1650T. B[ayley] Worcester's Apoph. 55 That is it they desire, and thence they would ground their quarrel. a1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. ii. 50 But intellectual Reason hath to do with universals, and for the most part grounds and directs its Ratiocination by them. 1724A. Collins Gr. Chr. Relig. 5 The Apostles ground and prove Christianity from the Old Testament.
c. In pass. with advs. Of conjectures, fears, etc.: To have a (good or bad) foundation.
1748Anson's Voy. ii. ix. 228 We afterwards found our suspicions..to be well grounded. 1765Blackstone Comm. i. i. 127 A fear of battery, or being beaten, though never so well grounded, is no duress. 1838Thirlwall Greece II. xvi. 322 Their suspicions and fears were not ill grounded.
†3. To establish, settle (a person in respect of his position, beliefs, etc.). Const. in, of. Also, in pass., to be advanced (in years). Obs.
1382Wyclif Hab. i. 12 Thou groundidist [Vulg. fundasti] hym strong, that thou shuldist chastise. c1400Destr. Troy 7579 He is gret of degre, groundit of old. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. cxxxviii, Gif the hert be groundit ferm and stable In goddis law. c1450tr. De Imitatione iii. viii. 75 If he be grounded in very mekenes & fulfilled wiþ dyvine charite. 1535Coverdale Isa. liv. 14 In rightuousnes shalt thou be grounded. a1540Barnes Wks. (1573) 326/2 They themselues are grounded onely of their owne sensuall mynde, hauyng no learnyng, nor reason for them. 1624Heywood Gunaik. iv. 205 Appolonia a virgin, but somewhat grounded in years. 1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 56 Such a loss as this, is able to undo a Planter, that is not very well grounded.
refl.c1400Apol. Loll. 29 It is foly ani prest to presume him to haue euyn power wiþ ilk oþer, be for þat he may ground him in þe feiþ.
†4.
a. refl. To rest or rely upon, esp. in argument. Obs.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 401 Som..fondith for to grounde hem uppon þe auctorite of Quintilianus. 1471Ripley Comp. Alch. Admon. xii. in Ashm. (1652) 192 Uppon my wrytynge therfore to ground the be bold. 1494Fabyan Chron. vi. clxxvi. 174 Antonyus, whiche groundeth hym vpon y⊇ said Vyncent. a1533Frith Disput. Purgat. (1829) 124 In solving this argument, he groundeth him on two lies at once. 1635Hakewill Apol. v. vi. 340 Some..grounding themselves upon those words, have beene so bold as to affirme [etc.]. 1802–12Bentham Rat Judic. Evid. (1827) III. 625 The state of things on which the above question grounds itself is [etc.].
†b. intr. for refl. Obs.
1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (Arb.) 150 If herein they grounded vpon reason they would mock them. 1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits xi. (1596) 165 Graue and learned men..labour to deliuer their opinion, concealing the opinions whereon they ground. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §10, I say moreover, and I ground upon experience, that poisons contain within themselves their own antidotes. 1682― Chr. Morals iii. 22 He..wisely grounding upon true Christian expectations..will wholly fix upon what is to come.
5. trans. To instruct (a person) in the fundamental or elementary principles of any branch of study. to be grounded in: to be (well or ill) acquainted with (a subject or science).
c1386Chaucer Prol. 414 He was grounded in Astronomye. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. 3 In all poynctes throughly grounded and acquainted with the preceptes. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 47 Touching his studies..he came young and not well grounded from Oxford University. 1658A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. ii. viii. 73 He that is well grounded in Surgery will find Receipts enough in his daily practise. 1725Berkeley Proposal Wks. III. 217 To ground these young Americans thoroughly in religion. 1839Ld. Brougham Statesm. Geo. III, Horner (ed. 2) 319 He was well grounded in the exacter sciences. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. viii. (1889) 67, I grounded myself pretty well in Latin and Greek. 1884L. J. Jennings in Croker Papers I. i. 27 He always sought to ground himself thoroughly in the facts [etc.].
6. Of a non-personal subject: To form or supply a basis, ground, or reason for (something). rare.
1667Pepys Diary 2 Sept., I did then desire to know what was the great matter that grounded his desire of the Chancellor's removal. a1677Barrow Serm. (1683) II. x. 141 Every attribute, every title, every relation of God doth ground an obligation. 1788Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 353 A single day's retard in which [the payment of interest] would ground a prejudice of long duration. 1875Poste Gaius iii. Comm. (ed. 2) 444 A convention is statutory which derives validity from some statute, and grounds or destroys a right of action.
†7. To investigate thoroughly. Obs.
a1529Skelton Col. Cloute 726 Some other man That..can Well scrypture expounde, And hys textes grounde. 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 6/2 M. Paré hath verye learnedlye discussed, and, as it weare, grownded this questione, in his boockes of Chyrurgerye.
8. To furnish with a ground or basis for painting, embroidery, etc. (see ground n. 6). Also to ground in: in Calico-printing, to apply (a second colour or a mordant) to a piece of material already printed with the colour of the first block.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. xi. (1495) 871 The meane coloures ben groundyd in none other colour better than in whyte. 1581Act 23 Eliz. c. 9 §3 No kynde of Clothe..shall from henceforth bee mathered for a Blacke, excepte the same be firste grounded with Woade onelye. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 230 (Calico-printing) Ground-in the neutral reserve..Ground-in the topical colours at pleasure. Ibid. 921 Pieces [of wall-paper] intended to be satined, are grounded with fine Paris plaster. 1860Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. viii. iv. 194 It is all the same to him whether he grounds a head..or whether he grounds the whole picture. 1862C. M. Yonge C'tess Kate ii. (1880) 31 Kate had a bunch of flowers, in Berlin wool, which she was supposed to be grounding.
9. a. To bring to the ground, knock down.
In quot. c 1205 there is app. some error in the text.
c1205Lay. 26553 Þus we [? insert eou] scullen grundien, ȝif godd us wule fulsten! 1430–40Lydg. Bochas ii. ii. (1554) 121 a, Their aduersaries bete doune and grounded. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xxxi. (1869) 193 Swich a strok he yaf me þat.. doun he hadde gronded me ne hadde my burdoun be. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 187 Penton was ultimately grounded by a doubler on the left side. 1908H. G. Wells War in Air viii. 252 Not one third..succeeded in getting back to the mother airship. The rest were either smashed up or grounded. 1968Eagleson & McKie Terminol. Austral. Nat. Football ii. 13 Ground, a variant for bring down, recorded by two informants.
†b. fig. To ‘floor’, ‘gravel’. Obs. rare.
1597Tofte Laura in Alba (1880) Introd. 38 Tis a worke to ground the wisest Hed. 1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. i. Ark 330 Miracles, that ground Man's wrangling Reason and his Wits confound.
10. a. To place or set on the ground; to cause to touch the ground; to lay down. † Also, to bring down (a weapon).
1650Don Bellianis 228 He..hoisted aloft his sword..and grounded it with mighty force upon the Giants head. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 96 ⁋9 When once she had grounded her foot, neither gods nor men could force her to retire. 1751R. Paltock Peter Wilkins II. xx. 255, I ordered my Bearers..to ground me just at the Foot of the Wood. 1773J. Duncombe Surry Triumphant xlvii, in R. Freeman Kentish Poets (1821) II, Ere the foe could ground his bat, His ardour Lewis quell'd. 1774Laws Cricket in Lillywhite Cricket Scores I. 16 Except his bat be grounded within it [i.e. the popping-crease]... If..the wicket is struck down before his foot, hand, or bat, is grounded over the popping-crease. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. ii. iii. 99 Before the striker is at home, or can ground his bat. 1879Boy's Own Paper 18 Jan. 2/3 The players [at Rugby football] are scrambling to their feet, and waiting for the ball to be ‘grounded’. 1884Mil. Engineering I. ii. 90 In grounding ladders, the men..lower the ladders gently on to the ground. 1899Westm. Gaz. 10 Nov. 2/1 The Rules Committee have decided that..the [golf] club may be grounded.
b. to ground arms (Mil.): to lay one's arms upon the ground, esp. as an act of surrender.
1711Milit. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4) i, s.v. Straw, A word of Command, to dismiss the Soldiers when they have grounded their Arms. 1802James Milit. Dict., Ground arms, a word of command on which the soldiers lay down their arms upon the ground. This word of command has been exploded since the introduction of the new exercise. Soldiers are now ordered to pile arms. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 325 Every burgher who should anywhere meet a person wearing the Macdonald tartan should ground arms, in token of submission. 1874Rifle Exerc., etc. 58 Ground Arms—Turn the rifle on the heel, lock to the rear, sink the body, bending both knees; and place the rifle flat on the ground. 1884M. Thornhill Pers. Adv. Ind. Mutiny ii. 13 Eventually the native officer ordered the guard to ground their arms, and allowed us to enter the office.
transf.1711Addison Spect. No. 102 ⁋6 When the Fans are thus discharged, the Word of Command in course is to ground their Fans.
c. Electr. To connect with the earth as a conductor. Also absol. Chiefly U.S.
1881Operator 15 June 218/1 Never, if possible, ground within a hundred feet of any place where an electric light wire is grounded. 1882T. D. Lockwood Pract. Inf. Telephonists 28 It is not well to ground on a plate of one metal at one end and another metal at the other. 1883T. D. Lockwood Electr. Tel. 138 If an accidental connection with the ground should occur..it is at once tested for by grounding the circuit at the office. 1892Pall Mall G. 21 Mar. 7/3 One wire would be grounded. 1967Technology Week 20 Feb. 35/1 A resistance inserted in the ‘V's’ effectively ‘grounds’ the antennas.
d. intr. To alight on the ground; to come to or strike the ground.
1751R. Paltock Peter Wilkins II. xx. 261, I hovered over the City a considerable time, to be sure of grounding right. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. (1810) 100 [Trap-ball] He..is also out if he strikes the ball into the air and it is caught..before it grounds. 1908H. G. Wells War in Air viii. 258 The Zeppelin..circled down and grounded in Prospect Park, in order to land the wounded.
e. To keep ‘on the ground’, prevent (an aircraft, pilot, etc.) from flying.
1931Vanity Fair Nov. 78/1 A flying ticket is the pilot's license, which he holds until he is grounded by having the license cancelled. a1940F. Scott Fitzgerald Last Tycoon (1949) i. 6 The assistant pilot is always in uniform... I want to find out if we're going to be grounded in Nashville. 1940War Weekly 2 Feb. 464/2 With catapults at an aerodrome, damage done by the enemy would not ‘ground’ all the aeroplanes in the hangars. 1944Flight 20 July 61 That's young Begley. He's being grounded to-morrow! 1970Daily Tel. 28 Apr. 1/8 Three..jets were grounded by mechanical faults and an accident.
11. a. intr. Of a vessel: To run ashore or aground; to strand. Const. on.
1624Capt. Smith Virginia iii. v. 59 Our bote..chansing to grownd vpon a many shoules lying in the entrances. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. iii. 146 She..grounded between two small Islands. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles v. xiv, With that the boats approach'd the land, But Edward's grounded on the sand. 1868E. Edwards Raleigh I. xxv. 615 The flagship had already grounded under circumstances of peril.
transf.1850Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. ix. (1859) 116 The bow of the boat grounded on the body of the whale.
b. trans. To cause to run ashore. † Also fig. in pass. To be stuck fast, unable to help oneself.
1658Phillips, To Ground a ship, to bring her on the ground to be trimmed. 1704J. Logan Let. to W. Penn 26 Mar. in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylv. (1870) IX. 288 My life..is not worth the living: I am grounded on all sides. 1712W. Rogers Voy. App. 16 If you water above in the River, do not ground your Boat. 1806Naval Chron. XV. 388 Three of our ships seemed to be grounded.
12. a. trans. To lower (an anchor) to the bottom. b. intr. To sink to, or settle on, the bottom.
1632Lithgow Trav. vii. 329 Our Anchors being grounded, and our Boate ready to court the shoare, I bad farwell to all. 1739C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Br. 30 We sunk the Caisson..to try how it sat and grounded. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §143 We proceeded lowering till our anchor was grounded. 1867F. Francis Angling ii. (1880) 69 The bait grounds too soon.
▸ Baseball. a. intr. To hit a ground ball, esp. to a player or position on the field. Also (of a batter): to be put out by having a ground ball fielded successfully before he or she reaches first base. Freq. in to ground out (to).
1896Washington Post 1 Sept. 8/3 Smith grounded out to Dahlen. 1901N.Y. Times 2 Aug. 5/5 Lowe grounded to Davis, who threw him out at first, Murphy scoring while the play was being made. 1915Z. Grey Redheaded Outfield (1920) vi. 124 Rand grounded to second. 1954S. Povich Washington Senators vi. 182 The Giants got their fourth run home when Jackson grounded out. 1986USA Today 11 July c4/3 Angels 8th: Petlis grounded out to second. 1997Chicago Tribune 31 May ii. 9/5 Moises Alou grounded into a forceout at second and Bonilla hit a high hopper past first baseman Andres Galarraga.
b. trans. To hit (a ground ball); to bat (a hit) along the ground.
1926N.Y. Times 26 July 9/4 Frisch grounded an easy one to Flowers, who fumbled the ball. 1955A. Hano Day in Bleachers viii. 91 Lockman grounded a high bouncer to Avila who threw easily to first. 1973K. Wagenheim Clemente! x. 203 Willie Stargell grounded a single to the left of second base. 1992Buffalo (N.Y.) News 23 Aug. b5/1 Jose Canseco grounded an RBI double into the left-field corner.
▸ trans. orig. U.S. To confine (a child) to his or her home outside school hours, as a punishment. Cf. grounded adj.1 and gate v.1
1953Sat. Evening Post 4 Apr. 118/4 If the infraction is a minor one, I lock up the TV set... If it's big, I ground them for a fortnight. 1959W. C. Gault Drag Strip ii. 27, I told my dad about that race I had with you and he's grounded me for two weeks. 1974Evening Herald (Rock Hill, S. Carolina) 18 Apr. 17/4, I have been smoking for a long time. My Mother has been trying to get me to quit. Every time she has caught me at it she has grounded me for three days. 1997Independent 18 Aug. 2/1 A seven-year-old boy burned down his family home after he was grounded for being naughty.
▪ III. ground, ppl. a.|graʊnd|
See also grounded ppl. a.2, grounden.
[pa. pple. of grind v.]
1. a. Reduced to fine particles by grinding or crushing.
1765Univ. Mag. XXXVII. 320/2 Ground and powdered refined sugar. 1781in D. Davis Hist. Shopping (1966) x. Pl. 11 Rice whole. Do. ground. 1818Art Preserv. Feet 131 A cataplasm of oatmeal and ground linseed. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 225, 8 ounces of ground indigo. 1845McCulloch Taxation ii. v. (1852) 230 The roots of chicory..when dried and ground, bear a strong resemblance to ground coffee. 1846‘A Lady’ Jewish Man. i. 2 Mix a little potatoe-flour, ground rice, or pounded vermicelli, in a little water. 1905H. G. Wells Kipps i. i. 15 Toke and cold ground-rice puddin' with plums. 1947‘G. Orwell’ Shooting Elephant (1950) 165 Cold ground-rice pudding.
b. With advs., as ground-down (also fig., exhausted), ground-up.
1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 80 Synovia..mixed with ground-down particles of cartilage. 1899Outing (U.S.) XXX. 171/1 A country of ground-up pebbles and water. 1911J. Masefield Everlasting Mercy 49 The ground-down starving man. 1946S. Spender European Witness (1947) 32 The German soldiers now have the soulless ground-down expression as in carved-wood faces of Slav peasants.
2. a. Having the surface abraded or fashioned by grinding, esp. of joints, stoppers, etc. intended to fit closely.
1807T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 41 Phials with ground stoppers. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Ground-joint. 1884Ibid. Suppl., Ground-cock.
b. ground-down (n.): the trade designation of a kind of needle (see quots.).
1862T. Morrall Needle-making 39 The Ground downs are..for tailors, and are shorter than the Short Sharps. 1880Plain Hints Needlework 95 There are sharps, the ordinary long sewing-needles; ground downs, short and stumpy.
3. ground glass.
†a. Glass which has its surface polished by grinding; plate glass (obs.).
b. Glass which has had its transparency destroyed by grinding or other processes; also attrib.
1793Smeaton Edystone L. Explan. Plate 6 The panes were of ground glass, on account of strength. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 420. 1848 Dickens Dombey xviii, The ground-glass windows are made more dim by shutters. 1869Tyndall Notes Lect. Light §103 If the screen be semi-transparent, say of ground glass or tracing-paper. 1885Howells Silas Lapham (1891) I. 7 He..pushed the ground-glass door shut.
4. ground wood (see quot. 1937).
1885G. F. Green in Rattray & Mill Forestry & Forest Products xviii. 473 Ground wood was first used for paper⁓making about the year 1846, when it was manufactured by Keller. 1937E. J. Labarre Dict. Paper 119/1 Ground wood, wood pulp produced by grinding wood; another term for mechanical wood. 1955Times 5 July p. ii/2 Some will be cut into lengths for the groundwood mill.
Add:[1.] c. Chiefly N. Amer. Of meat, esp. beef: reduced to very small pieces in a mincing-machine; (finely) minced. Cf. grounden ppl. a. 2.
1929E. Hemingway Farewell to Arms ii. xv. 106 They had the look of not too freshly ground hamburger steak. 1936I. S. Rombauer Joy of Cooking (ed. 2) 209 Combine the vegetables and add: 1 pound ground beef, 1 pound ground pork, ½ teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon paprika. 1955W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. i. 292 A half-pound of ground beef waited in the kitchen. 1970D. MacKenzie Night Boat to Puerto Vedra 172 A few seamen were at the taco stands... He..bought himself a cone of maize flour filled with peppered ground meat. 1991Business Traveller Jan. 43/2 A splendid stew of veal, blood pudding, chicken, ground pork, eggs and vegetables (escudella i carn d'olla). |