ground

1 /graUnd/ noun EARTH SURFACE

1 (U) the surface of the earth: The leaf slowly fluttered to the ground. | The air raids were followed by military action on the ground. | below/above ground: miners working 10-hour shifts below ground

—compare floor 1 (1), —see land 1

2 SOIL (U) the soil on and under the surface of the earth: Dig the ground over in autumn. | marshy ground

3 UNDER THE SEA (U) the bottom of the sea: Our ship touched ground.

AREA

4 OPEN LAND (U) an area of land without buildings or trees: a view across open ground | They're building a car lot on some waste ground across the street.

5 grounds (plural)

a) a large area of land or sea that is used for a particular activity or sport: hunting grounds | fishing grounds

b) the land or gardens around a large house, hospital etc

6 parade/recreation/burial etc ground an area of land that is used for a particular purpose

—see also: playground

7 SPORTS (C) BrE the place where a sport such as football or cricket (2) is played; stadium: the team's home ground (=where they usually play)

8 cover a lot of ground to travel a very long distance: You certainly covered a lot of ground on your travels.

SUBJECT

9 AREA OF KNOWLEDGE (U) an area of knowledge, ideas, experience etc: go over the same ground (=talk about the same things again): The article says nothing new - it just goes over the same old ground. | be on familiar ground/be on your own ground (=be talking about or dealing with a subject you know a lot about): Keith's on familiar ground. He's worked with this type of computer before.

10 be on dangerous/safe ground to be expressing ideas that are likely or unlikely to offend or embarrass someone

11 cover a lot of ground to give information about many different parts of a subject: It's absurd to try to cover so much ground in such a short lecture.

OPINION/ATTITUDE

12 the middle ground the area of political opinion that most people agree about: the middle ground between two passionately opposed views

13 common ground an area of opinion that two people or groups share: We hope to find some common ground as a basis for agreement.

14 shift/change your ground to begin to use different reasons or ideas to support your opinions

15 hold your ground to continue to support a particular opinion in spite of opposition

16 the moral high ground an opinion that is regarded as morally better than others

REASON

17 REASON (countable usually plural) a reason, especially one that makes you think that something is true or correct: grounds for (doing) sth: Jim has strong grounds for asking for more money. | on moral/legal etc grounds: He refused to signt he contract on moral grounds. | on grounds of: The divorce was granted on ground of adultery. | on the grounds that: Zoe was awarded compensation on the grounds that the doctor had been negligent.

SUCCESS/ADVANTAGE

18 get off the ground if a plan, a business idea etc gets off the ground, or if you get it off the ground, it starts to be successful: It took a while for the business to get off the ground, but it's making a profit now.

19 gain ground

a) to get an advantage and become more successful: The Republicans have been gaining ground in the opinion polls.

b) if an idea, belief etc gains ground, it starts to become accepted or believed by more people: a theory gaining ground among academics

20 lose ground to lose an advantage and become less successful

HIDE/END

21 go to ground BrE to hide from someone, especially the police

22 run sb to ground BrE to succeed in finding someone after a long search: I finally ran Luke to ground in the basement store room.

COLOUR/PAINT

23 BACKGROUND (C) the colour that is the background for a design: white flowers on a blue ground

24 PAINT (C) the first covering of paint on a painting

OTHER MEANINGS

25 fertile ground/breeding ground a situation in which it is easy for something to develop: The universities were a fertile ground for left-wing radicalism. | a breeding ground for germs

26 on the ground in the actual place where something, especially a war, is happening, rather than in another place where it is being discussed: While the politicians talked of peace, the situation on the ground remained tense.

27 on your own ground/on home ground in the place or situation that is most familiar to you: I wouldn't dream of meeting my ex-husband again unless I was on home ground.

28 work/drive yourself into the ground to work so hard that you become extremely tired: Kay's working herself into the ground trying to meet her deadlines.

29 grounds plural the small pieces of something such as coffee which sink to the bottom of a liquid: coffee grounds

30 ELECTRICAL (singular) AmE a wire that connects a piece of electrical equipment to the ground for safety; earth 1 (8) BrE

—see also: break new ground break 1 (33), cut the ground from under sb's feet cut 1 (25), have/keep both feet on the ground foot 1 (16), stand your ground stand 1 (8), stand/hold your ground stand 1 (17), suit sb down to the ground suit 2 (1), be thin on the ground thin 1 (12), hit the ground running hit 1 (22) 2 verb

1 (transitive usually passive) to stop an aircraft or pilot from flying: All planes are grounded until the fog clears.

2 (I, T) if you ground a boat or if it grounds, it hits the bottom of the sea so that it cannot move

3 be grounded in/on to be based on something: David's values are grounded in a Protestant work ethic.

4 (T) informal to stop a child going out with their friends as a punishment for behaving badly: I got home at am and Dad grounded me on the spot.

5 (T) AmE to make a piece of electrical equipment safe by connecting it to the ground with a wire; earth 2 BrE

—see also: well­grounded ground sb in sth phrasal verb (transitive usually passive) to teach someone the basic things they should know in order to be able to do something: The recruits were grounded in combat techniques. 3 adjective (only before noun) ground coffee or nuts have been broken up into powder or very small pieces, using a special machine 4 the past tense and past participle of grind 1