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Noun: grounds  grawndz
  1. Your basis for belief or disbelief; knowledge on which to base belief
    "the grounds that smoking causes lung cancer is very compelling";
    - evidence
     
  2. The enclosed land around a house or other building
    "it was a small house with almost no grounds";
    - yard [N. Amer], curtilage
     
  3. A tract of land cleared for some special purposes (recreation or burial etc.)
     
  4. A justification for something existing or happening
    "he had no grounds to complain";
    - cause, reason
     
  5. Dregs consisting of solid particles (especially of coffee) that form a residue
    "it is a Middle Eastern custom to read your future in your coffee grounds"
Noun: ground  grawnd
  1. The solid part of the earth's surface
    "he dropped the logs on the ground"; "the plane turned away from the sea and moved back over solid ground";
    - land, dry land, earth, solid ground, terra firma
     
  2. Reason or cause
    "the grounds for their declaration";
    - reason, occasion
     
  3. The loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface
    "they dug into the ground outside the church";
    - earth
     
  4. A relation that provides the foundation for something
    - footing, basis
     
  5. A position to be won or defended in battle (or as if in battle)
    "they gained ground step by step"; "they fought to regain the lost ground"
     
  6. The part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground
    "he posed her against a ground of rolling hills";
    - background, backdrop
     
  7. Material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use)
    "the ground had never been ploughed";
    - land, soil
     
  8. A relatively homogeneous percept extending back of the figure on which attention is focused
     
  9. (electricity) a connection between an electrical device and a large conducting body, such as the earth (which is taken to be at zero voltage)
    - earth [Brit]
     
  10. (art) the surface (as a wall or canvas) prepared to take the paint for a painting
     
  11. The first or preliminary coat of paint or size applied to a surface
    - flat coat, primer, priming, primer coat, priming coat, undercoat
Verb: ground  grawnd
  1. Fix firmly and stably
    "ground the lamppost in concrete";
    - anchor
     
  2. Confine or restrict to the ground
    "After the accident, they grounded the plane and the pilot"
     
  3. Place or put on the ground
     
  4. Instruct someone in the fundamentals of a subject
     
  5. Bring to the ground
    "the storm grounded the ship";
    - strand, run aground
     
  6. Hit or reach the ground
    - run aground
     
  7. (football) throw to the ground in order to stop play and avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage
     
  8. (baseball) a hit that travels along the playing field.
    "he grounded to the second baseman"
     
  9. Cover with a primer; apply a primer to
    - prime, undercoat
     
  10. Connect to a ground
    "ground the electrical connections for safety reasons"
     
  11. Use as a basis for; found on
    - establish, base, found

Type of: arrive at, article, aspect, attain, coat of paint, confine, connect, connecter, connection, connective, connector, connexion [Brit], constrain, draff, dregs, fasten, field, fix, foundation, gain, hit, hold, information, instruct, justification, land, lay, learn, link, link up, make, material, military position, object, paint, panorama, parcel, parcel of land, percept, perception, perceptual experience, physical object, piece of ground, piece of land, place, pose, position, prospect, put, rational motive, reach, restrain, scene, secure, set, settlings, stuff, surface, teach, throw, tie, tract, view, vista, wing

Antonym: figure

Part of: Earth, globe, world

Encyclopedia: Grounds, William

Ground, Richard