(in perception) the background in a visual field, contrasted with the figure.
11.
Also called etching ground.an acid-resistant substance, composed of wax, gum, and resin in varying proportions, applied to the entire surface of an etching plate and through which the design is drawn with an etching needle.
12.
grounds, dregs or sediment: coffee grounds.
13.
grounds, the gardens, lawn, etc., surrounding and belonging to a building.
14.
Electricity. a conducting connection between an electric circuit or equipment and the earth or some other conducting body.
the earth's solid or liquid surface; land or water.
18.
Carpentry.
a.
a strip of wood to which woodwork can be attached, set flush with the plaster finish of a room.
b.
a strip of wood or length of corner bead used at an opening as a stop for plasterwork.
–adjective
19.
situated on or at, or adjacent to, the surface of the earth: a ground attack.
20.
pertaining to the ground.
21.
Military. operating on land: ground forces.
–verb (used with object)
22.
to lay or set on the ground.
23.
to place on a foundation; fix firmly; settle or establish; found.
24.
to instruct in elements or first principles: to ground students in science.
25.
to furnish with a ground or background, as on decorative work.
26.
to cover (wallpaper) with colors or other materials before printing.
27.
Electricity. to establish a ground for (a circuit, device, etc.).
28.
Nautical. to cause (a vessel) to run aground.
29.
Aeronautics. to restrict (an aircraft or the like) to the ground because of bad weather, the unsatisfactory condition of the aircraft, etc.
30.
to forbid (a pilot) to fly because of bad health, failure to comply with safety regulations, or the like.
31.
Informal. to put out of action or make unable to participate: The quarterback was grounded by a knee injury.
32.
Informal. to restrict the activities, esp. the social activities, of: I can't go to the party—my parents have grounded me until my grades improve.
–verb (used without object)
33.
to come to or strike the ground.
34.
Baseball.
a.
to hit a ground ball.
b.
to ground out.
—Verb phrase
35.
ground out, Baseball. to be put out at first base after hitting a ground ball to the infield.
—Idioms
36.
break ground,
a.
to plow.
b.
to begin excavation for a construction project.
c.
to begin upon or take preparatory measures for any undertaking.
37.
cover ground,
a.
to pass or travel over a certain area.
b.
to make a certain amount of progress in dealing with a piece of work, subject, treatise, or the like: He talked for two hours without covering much ground.
38.
cut the ground from under, to render (an argument, position, person, etc.) ineffective or invalid; refute: It didn't require much effort to cut the ground from under that case.
39.
from the ground up,
a.
gradually from the most elementary level to the highest level: She learned the business from the ground up.
b.
extensively; thoroughly: The professor knew his subject from the ground up.
40.
gain ground,
a.
to make progress; advance.
b.
to gain approval or acceptance: The case for air-pollution control is gaining ground throughout the country.
41.
give ground, to yield to force or forceful argument; retreat: The disarmament talks reached an impasse when neither side would give ground on inspection proposals.
42.
hold or stand one's ground, to maintain one's position; be steadfast: The referee stood his ground, though his decision was hotly contested by the crowd.
43.
into the ground, beyond a reasonable or necessary point: You've stated your case, and you needn't run it into the ground.
44.
lose ground,
a.
to retreat or be forced back.
b.
to lose one's advantage; suffer a reverse.
c.
to wane in popularity or acceptance; begin to fail: Our candidate is losing ground in industrial areas.
45.
off the ground, Informal. into action or well under way: The play never got off the ground.
46.
on one's own ground, in an area or situation that one knows well.
47.
on the ground, at the place of interest or importance; actively engaged: Minutes after the bank robbery reporters were on the ground to get the story.
48.
shift ground, to change position in an argument or situation.
49.
suit down to the ground, to be perfectly satisfactory; please greatly: This climate suits me down to the ground.
50.
take the ground, Nautical. to become grounded at low water.
51.
to ground,
a.
into a den, burrow, shelter, or the like: a fox gone to ground.
b.
into concealment or hiding: Rather than take the witness stand, she went to ground in another country.
[Origin: bef. 900; (n.) ME grownd, grund, OE grund; c. D grond, G Grund; (v.) ME grundien, grownden to set on a foundation, establish, deriv. of the n.]
A large conducting body, such as the earth or an electric circuit connected to the earth, used as an arbitrary zero of potential.
A conducting object, such as a wire, that is connected to such a position of zero potential.
Soil; earth: level the ground for a lawn.
An area of land designated for a particular purpose. Often used in the plural: a burial ground; parade grounds.
The land surrounding or forming part of a house or another building. Often used in the plural: a guesthouse on the grounds of the mansion.
An area or a position that is contested in or as if in battle: The soldiers held their ground against the enemy. Character witnesses helped the defendant stand her ground in the trial.
Something that serves as a foundation or means of attachment for something else: a ground of white paint under the mural.
A surrounding area; a background.
The foundation for an argument, a belief, or an action; a basis. Often used in the plural.
The underlying condition prompting an action; a cause. Often used in the plural: grounds for suspicion; a ground for divorce. See Synonyms at base1.
An area of reference or discussion; a subject: The professor covered new ground in every lecture.
grounds The sediment at or from the bottom of a liquid: coffee grounds.
Electricity
A large conducting body, such as the earth or an electric circuit connected to the earth, used as an arbitrary zero of potential.
A conducting object, such as a wire, that is connected to such a position of zero potential.
v.
ground·ed, ground·ing, grounds
v.
tr.
To place on or cause to touch the ground.
To provide a basis for (a theory, for example); justify.
To supply with basic information; instruct in fundamentals.
To prevent (an aircraft or a pilot) from flying.
Informal To restrict (someone) especially to a certain place as a punishment.
Baseball To hit (a ball) onto the ground.
Football To throw (a ball) to the ground in order to stop play and avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage.
Electricity To connect (an electric circuit) to a ground.
Nautical To run (a vessel) aground.
Baseball To hit (a ball) onto the ground.
Football To throw (a ball) to the ground in order to stop play and avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage.
v.
intr.
To touch or reach the ground.
Baseball To hit a ground ball: grounded to the second baseman.
Nautical To run aground.
Phrasal Verb(s): ground out Baseball
To be put out by hitting a ground ball that is fielded and thrown to first base.
Idiom(s):
drive/run into the ground
To belabor (an issue or a subject).
Idiom(s):
from the ground up
From the most basic level to the highest level; completely: designed the house from the ground up; learned the family business from the ground up.
Idiom(s):
off the ground
Under way, as if in flight: Because of legal difficulties, the construction project never got off the ground.
Idiom(s):
on (one's) own ground
In a situation where one has knowledge or competence: a sculptor back on her own ground after experiments with painting.
Idiom(s):
on the ground
At a place that is exciting, interesting, or important.
O.E. grund "foundation, ground, surface of the earth," especially "bottom of the sea" (a sense preserved in run aground), from P.Gmc. *grundus, which seems to have meant "deep place" (cf. O.Fris. grund, Du. grond, Ger. Grund "ground, soil, bottom;" O.N. grunn "a shallow place, grund "field, plain," grunnr "bottom"). No known cognates outside Gmc. Sense of "reason, motive" first attested c.1205; electrical sense is from 1870. Grounds "residue at the bottom of a liquid" (1340) is perhaps from past tense of grind (q.v.). Meaning "deny privileges" is 1940s, originally a punishment meted out to pilots (in which sense it is attested from 1931). Ground-hog is attested from 1784; Ground Hog Day first recorded 1871, Amer.Eng. Groundwork (1550) is originally "the solid base on which a structure is built;" fig. sense is from 1557. Groundling "theater patron in the pit" is from 1602, from the beginning emblematic of bad or unsophisticated taste.
the solid part of the earth's surface; "the plane turned away from the sea and moved back over land"; "the earth shook for several minutes"; "he dropped the logs on the ground" [syn: land]
2.
a rational motive for a belief or action; "the reason that war was declared"; "the grounds for their declaration" [syn: reason]
3.
the loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface; "they dug into the earth outside the church" [syn: earth]
4.
a relation that provides the foundation for something; "they were on a friendly footing"; "he worked on an interim basis" [syn: footing]
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 background of rolling hills" [syn: background]
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 land had never been plowed"; "good agricultural soil" [syn: land]
8.
a relatively homogeneous percept extending back of the figure on which attention is focused [ant: figure]
9.
a connection between an electrical device and a large conducting body, such as the earth (which is taken to be at zero voltage)
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 [syn: flat coat]
verb
1.
fix firmly and stably; "anchor the lamppost in concrete" [syn: 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"
6.
hit or reach the ground
7.
throw to the ground in order to stop play and avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage
8.
hit a groundball; "he grounded to the second baseman"
9.
hit onto the ground
10.
cover with a primer; apply a primer to [syn: prime]
11.
connect to a ground; "ground the electrical connections for safety reasons"
12.
use as a basis for; found on; "base a claim on some observation" [syn: establish]
A connection between an electrical conductor and the Earth. Grounds are used to establish a common zero-voltage reference for electric devices in order to prevent potentially dangerous voltages from arising between them and other objects. Also called earth.
The set of shared points in an electrical circuit at which the measured voltage is taken to be zero. The ground is usually connected directly to the power supply and acts as a common "sink" for current flowing through the components in the circuit.
Main Entry: ground Function: transitive verb : to furnish a ground for : set on a basis <that court grounded the disclosure requirement in negligence
law —Scott v. Bradford, 606 Pacific Reporter, Second Series 554 (1979)> <an argument grounded on erroneous assumptions>
Main Entry: ground Function: noun 1: the foundation or basis on which knowledge, belief, or conviction rests : a premise, reason, or collection of data upon
which something (as a legal action or argument) relies for validity <sued the city on the ground that the city…had wrongfully released…records —City of Lawton v.
Moore, 868 Pacific Reporter, Second Series 690 (1993)> <listed adultery and alcoholism as the grounds for divorce> 2: a piece or parcel of land <the
design being to create high ground for use during overflow periods —Bright v. Perkins, 239 South Western Reporter, Second Series 281 (1951)> <a sudden disruption of a piece of
ground from one man's land —Porter v. Arkansas Western Gas Company, 482 South Western Reporter, Second Series 598 (1972)> —ground·lessadjective
—ground·less·lyadverb —ground·less·nessnoun
Ball Ground, GA (city, FIPS 5036) Location: 34.33722 N, 84.37694 W Population (1990): 905 (362 housing units) Area: 2.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 30107
Battle Ground, IN (town, FIPS 3718) Location: 40.50999 N, 86.83848 W Population (1990): 806 (301 housing units) Area: 0.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 47920
Battle Ground, WA (city, FIPS 4475) Location: 45.78203 N, 122.54106 W Population (1990): 3758 (1376 housing units) Area: 6.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 98604
Stamping Ground, KY (city, FIPS 73038) Location: 38.27004 N, 84.68609 W Population (1990): 698 (281 housing units) Area: 1.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 40379
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD (CDP, FIPS 175) Location: 39.47247 N, 76.12997 W Population (1990): 5267 (986 housing units) Area: 28.2 sq km (land), 1.6 sq km (water)
De*bat"a*ble\, a. [Cf. OF. debatable. See Debate.] Liable to be debated; disputable; subject to controversy or contention; open to question or dispute; as, a debatable question. The Debatable Land or Ground, a tract of land between the Esk and the Sark, claimed by both England and Scotland; the Batable Ground.
Give\ (g[i^]v), v. t. [imp. Gave (g[=a]v); p. p. Given (g[i^]v"'n); p. pr. & vb. n. Giving.] [OE. given, yiven, yeven, AS. gifan, giefan; akin to D. geven, OS. ge[eth]an, OHG. geban, G. geben, Icel. gefa, Sw. gifva, Dan. give, Goth. giban. Cf. Gift, n.]1. To bestow without receiving a return; to confer without compensation; to impart, as a possession; to grant, as authority or permission; to yield up or allow. For generous lords had rather give than pay. --Young. 2. To yield possesion of; to deliver over, as property, in exchange for something; to pay; as, we give the value of what we buy. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? --Matt. xvi. 26. 3. To yield; to furnish; to produce; to emit; as, flint and steel give sparks. 4. To communicate or announce, as advice, tidings, etc.; to pronounce; to render or utter, as an opinion, a judgment, a sentence, a shout, etc. 5. To grant power or license to; to permit; to allow; to license; to commission. It is given me once again to behold my friend. --Rowe. Then give thy friend to shed the sacred wine. --Pope. 6. To exhibit as a product or result; to produce; to show; as, the number of men, divided by the number of ships, gives four hundred to each ship. 7. To devote; to apply; used reflexively, to devote or apply one's self; as, the soldiers give themselves to plunder; also in this sense used very frequently in the past participle; as, the people are given to luxury and pleasure; the youth is given to study. 8. (Logic & Math.) To set forth as a known quantity or a known relation, or as a premise from which to reason; -- used principally in the passive form given. 9. To allow or admit by way of supposition. I give not heaven for lost. --Mlton. 10. To attribute; to assign; to adjudge. I don't wonder at people's giving him to me as a lover. --Sheridan. 11. To excite or cause to exist, as a sensation; as, to give offense; to give pleasure or pain. 12. To pledge; as, to give one's word. 13. To cause; to make; -- with the infinitive; as, to give one to understand, to know, etc. But there the duke was given to understand That in a gondola were seen together Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica. --Shak. To give away, to make over to another; to transfer. Whatsoever we employ in charitable uses during our lives, is given away from ourselves. --Atterbury. To give back, to return; to restore. --Atterbury. To give the bag, to cheat. [Obs.] I fear our ears have given us the bag. --J. Webster. To give birth to. (a) To bear or bring forth, as a child. (b) To originate; to give existence to, as an enterprise, idea. To give chase, to pursue. To give ear to. See under Ear. To give forth, to give out; to publish; to tell. --Hayward. To give ground. See under Ground, n. To give the hand, to pledge friendship or faith. To give the hand of, to espouse; to bestow in marriage. To give the head. See under Head, n. To give in. (a) To abate; to deduct. (b) To declare; to make known; to announce; to tender; as, to give in one's adhesion to a party. To give the lie to (a person), to tell (him) that he lies. To give line. See under Line. To give off, to emit, as steam, vapor, odor, etc. To give one's self away, to make an inconsiderate surrender of one's cause, an unintentional disclosure of one's purposes, or the like. [Colloq.] To give out. (a) To utter publicly; to report; to announce or declare. One that gives out himself Prince Florizel. --Shak. Give out you are of Epidamnum. --Shak. (b) To send out; to emit; to distribute; as, a substance gives out steam or odors. To give over. (a) To yield completely; to quit; to abandon. (b) To despair of. (c) To addict, resign, or apply (one's self). The Babylonians had given themselves over to all manner of vice. --Grew. To give place, to withdraw; to yield one's claim. To give points. (a) In games of skill, to equalize chances by conceding a certain advantage; to allow a handicap. (b) To give useful suggestions. [Colloq.] To give rein. See under Rein, n. To give the sack. Same as To give the bag. To give and take. (a) To average gains and losses. (b) To exchange freely, as blows, sarcasms, etc. To give time (Law), to accord extension or forbearance to a debtor. --Abbott. To give the time of day, to salute one with the compliment appropriate to the hour, as "good morning." "good evening", etc. To give tongue, in hunter's phrase, to bark; -- said of dogs. To give up. (a) To abandon; to surrender. "Don't give up the ship." He has . . . given up For certain drops of salt, your city Rome. --Shak. (b) To make public; to reveal. I'll not state them By giving up their characters. --Beau. & Fl. (c) (Used also reflexively.) To give up the ghost. See under Ghost. To give one's self up, to abandon hope; to despair; to surrender one's self. To give way. (a) To withdraw; to give place. (b) To yield to force or pressure; as, the scaffolding gave way. (c) (Naut.) To begin to row; or to row with increased energy. (d) (Stock Exchange). To depreciate or decline in value; as, railroad securities gave way two per cent. To give way together, to row in time; to keep stroke. Syn: To Give, Confer, Grant. Usage: To give is the generic word, embracing all the rest. To confer was originally used of persons in power, who gave permanent grants or privileges; as, to confer the order of knighthood; and hence it still denotes the giving of something which might have been withheld; as, to confer a favor. To grant is to give in answer to a petition or request, or to one who is in some way dependent or inferior.
Grind\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ground; p. pr. & vb. n. Grinding.] [AS. grindan; perh. akin to L. frendere to gnash, grind. Cf. Grist.]1. To reduce to powder by friction, as in a mill, or with the teeth; to crush into small fragments; to produce as by the action of millstones. Take the millstones, and grind meal. --Is. xivii. 2. 2. To wear down, polish, or sharpen, by friction; to make smooth, sharp, or pointed; to whet, as a knife or drill; to rub against one another, as teeth, etc. 3. To oppress by severe exactions; to harass. To grind the subject or defraud the prince. --Dryden. 4. To study hard for examination. [College Slang]
Ground\ (ground), n. [OE. ground, grund, AS. grund; akin to D. grond, OS., G., Sw., & Dan. grund, Icel. grunnr bottom, Goth. grundus (in composition); perh. orig. meaning, dust, gravel, and if so perh. akin to E. grind.]1. The surface of the earth; the outer crust of the globe, or some indefinite portion of it. There was not a man to till the ground. --Gen. ii. 5. The fire ran along upon the ground. --Ex. ix. 23. Hence: A floor or pavement supposed to rest upon the earth. 2. Any definite portion of the earth's surface; region; territory; country. Hence: A territory appropriated to, or resorted to, for a particular purpose; the field or place of action; as, a hunting or fishing ground; a play ground. From . . . old Euphrates, to the brook that parts Egypt from Syrian ground. --Milton. 3. Land; estate; possession; field; esp. (pl.), the gardens, lawns, fields, etc., belonging to a homestead; as, the grounds of the estate are well kept. Thy next design is on thy neighbor's grounds. --Dryden. 4. 4. The basis on which anything rests; foundation. Hence: The foundation of knowledge, belief, or conviction; a premise, reason, or datum; ultimate or first principle; cause of existence or occurrence; originating force or agency; as, the ground of my hope. 5. (Paint. & Decorative Art) (a) That surface upon which the figures of a composition are set, and which relieves them by its plainness, being either of one tint or of tints but slightly contrasted with one another; as, crimson Bowers on a white ground. See Background, Foreground, and Middle-ground. (b) In sculpture, a flat surface upon which figures are raised in relief. (c) In point lace, the net of small meshes upon which the embroidered pattern is applied; as, Brussels ground. See Brussels lace, under Brussels. 6. (Etching) A gummy composition spread over the surface of a metal to be etched, to prevent the acid from eating except where an opening is made by the needle. 7. (Arch.) One of the pieces of wood, flush with the plastering, to which moldings, etc., are attached; -- usually in the plural. Note: Grounds are usually put up first and the plastering floated flush with them. 8. (Mus.) (a) A composition in which the bass, consisting of a few bars of independent notes, is continually repeated to a varying melody. (b) The tune on which descants are raised; the plain song. --Moore (Encyc.). On that ground I'll build a holy descant. --Shak. 9. (Elec.) A conducting connection with the earth, whereby the earth is made part of an electrical circuit. 10. pl. Sediment at the bottom of liquors or liquids; dregs; lees; feces; as, coffee grounds. 11. The pit of a theater. [Obs.] --B. Jonson. Ground angling, angling with a weighted line without a float. Ground annual (Scots Law), an estate created in land by a vassal who instead of selling his land outright reserves an annual ground rent, which becomes a perpetual charge upon the land. Ground ash. (Bot.) See Groutweed. Ground bailiff (Mining), a superintendent of mines. --Simmonds. Ground bait, bits of bread, boiled barley or worms, etc., thrown into the water to collect the fish, --Wallon. Ground bass or base (Mus.), fundamental base; a fundamental base continually repeated to a varied melody. Ground beetle (Zo["o]l.), one of numerous species of carnivorous beetles of the family Carabid[ae], living mostly in burrows or under stones, etc. Ground chamber, a room on the ground floor. Ground cherry. (Bot.) (a) A genus (Physalis) of herbaceous plants having an inflated calyx for a seed pod: esp., the strawberry tomato (P. Alkekengi). See Alkekengl. (b) A European shrub (Prunus Cham[ae]cerasus), with small, very acid fruit. Ground cuckoo. (Zo["o]l.) See Chaparral cock. Ground cypress. (Bot.) See Lavender cotton. Ground dove (Zo["o]l.), one of several small American pigeons of the genus Columbigallina, esp. C. passerina of the Southern United States, Mexico, etc. They live chiefly on the ground. Ground fish (Zo["o]l.), any fish which constantly lives on the botton of the sea, as the sole, turbot, halibut. Ground floor, the floor of a house most nearly on a level with the ground; -- called also in America, but not in England, the first floor. Ground form (Gram.), the stem or basis of a word, to which the other parts are added in declension or conjugation. It is sometimes, but not always, the same as the root. Ground furze (Bot.), a low slightly thorny, leguminous shrub (Ononis arvensis) of Europe and Central Asia,; -- called also rest-harrow. Ground game, hares, rabbits, etc., as distinguished from winged game. Ground hele (Bot.), a perennial herb (Veronica officinalis) with small blue flowers, common in Europe and America, formerly thought to have curative properties. Ground of the heavens (Astron.), the surface of any part of the celestial sphere upon which the stars may be regarded as projected. Ground hemlock (Bot.), the yew (Taxus baccata var. Canadensisi) of eastern North America, distinguished from that of Europe by its low, straggling stems. Ground hog. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The woodchuck or American marmot (Arctomys monax). See Woodchuck. (b) The aardvark. Ground hold (Naut.), ground tackle. [Obs.] --Spenser. Ground ice, ice formed at the bottom of a body of water before it forms on the surface. Ground ivy. (Bot.) A trailing plant; alehoof. See Gill. Ground joist, a joist for a basement or ground floor; a. sleeper. Ground lark (Zo["o]l.), the European pipit. See Pipit. Ground laurel (Bot.). See Trailing arbutus, under Arbutus. Ground line (Descriptive Geom.), the line of intersection of the horizontal and vertical planes of projection. Ground liverwort (Bot.), a flowerless plant with a broad flat forking thallus and the fruit raised on peduncled and radiated receptacles (Marchantia polymorpha). Ground mail, in Scotland, the fee paid for interment in a churchyard. Ground mass (Geol.), the fine-grained or glassy base of a rock, in which distinct crystals of its constituents are embedded. Ground parrakeet (Zo["o]l.), one of several Australian parrakeets, of the genera Callipsittacus and Geopsittacus, which live mainly upon the ground. Ground pearl (Zo["o]l.), an insect of the family Coccid[ae] (Margarodes formicarum), found in ants' nests in the Bahamas, and having a shelly covering. They are strung like beads, and made into necklaces by the natives. Ground pig (Zo["o]l.), a large, burrowing, African rodent (Aulacodus Swinderianus) about two feet long, allied to the porcupines but with harsh, bristly hair, and no spines; -- called also ground rat. Ground pigeon (Zo["o]l.), one of numerous species of pigeons which live largely upon the ground, as the tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris), of the Samoan Islands, and the crowned pigeon, or goura. See Goura, and Ground dove (above). Ground pine. (Bot.) (a) A blue-flowered herb of the genus Ajuga (A. Cham[ae]pitys), formerly included in the genus Teucrium or germander, and named from its resinous smell. --Sir J. Hill. (b) A long, creeping, evergreen plant of the genus Lycopodium (L. clavatum); -- called also club moss. (c) A tree-shaped evergreen plant about eight inches in height, of the same genus (L. dendroideum) found in moist, dark woods in the northern part of the United States. --Gray. Ground plan (Arch.), a plan of the ground floor of any building, or of any floor, as distinguished from an elevation or perpendicular section. Ground plane, the horizontal plane of projection in perspective drawing. Ground plate. (a) (Arch.) One of the chief pieces of framing of a building; a timber laid horizontally on or near the ground to support the uprights; a ground sill or groundsel. (b) (Railroads) A bed plate for sleepers or ties; a mudsill. (c) (Teleg.) A metallic plate buried in the earth to conduct the electric current thereto. Connection to the pipes of a gas or water main is usual in cities. --Knight. Ground plot, the ground upon which any structure is erected; hence, any basis or foundation; also, a ground plan. Ground plum (Bot.), a leguminous plant (Astragalus caryocarpus) occurring from the Saskatchewan to Texas, and having a succulent plum-shaped pod. Ground rat. (Zo["o]l.) See Ground pig (above). Ground rent, rent paid for the privilege of building on another man's land. Ground robin. (Zo["o]l.) See Chewink. Ground room, a room on the ground floor; a lower room. --Tatler. Ground sea, the West Indian name for a swell of the ocean, which occurs in calm weather and without obvious cause, breaking on the shore in heavy roaring billows; -- called also rollers, and in Jamaica, the North sea. Ground sill. See Ground plate (a) (above). Ground snake (Zo["o]l.), a small burrowing American snake (Celuta am[oe]na). It is salmon colored, and has a blunt tail. Ground squirrel. (Zo["o]l.) (a) One of numerous species of burrowing rodents of the genera Tamias and Spermophilus, having cheek pouches. The former genus includes the Eastern striped squirrel or chipmunk and some allied Western species; the latter includes the prairie squirrel or striped gopher, the gray gopher, and many allied Western species. See Chipmunk, and Gopher. (b) Any species of the African genus Xerus, allied to Tamias. Ground story. Same as Ground floor (above). Ground substance (Anat.), the intercellular substance, or matrix, of tissues. Ground swell. (a) (Bot.) The plant groundsel. [Obs.] --Holland. (b) A broad, deep swell or undulation of the ocean, caused by a long continued gale, and felt even at a remote distance after the gale has ceased. Ground table. (Arch.) See Earth table, under Earth. Ground tackle (Naut.), the tackle necessary to secure a vessel at anchor. --Totten. Ground thrush (Zo["o]l.), one of numerous species of bright-colored Oriental birds of the family Pittid[ae]. See Pitta. Ground tier. (a) The lowest tier of water casks in a vessel's hold. --Totten. (b) The lowest line of articles of any kind stowed in a vessel's hold. (c) The lowest range of boxes in a theater. Ground timbers (Shipbuilding) the timbers which lie on the keel and are bolted to the keelson; floor timbers. --Knight. Ground tit. (Zo["o]l.) See Ground wren (below). Ground wheel, that wheel of a harvester, mowing machine, etc., which, rolling on the ground, drives the mechanism. Ground wren (Zo["o]l.), a small California bird (Cham[ae]a fasciata) allied to the wrens and titmice. It inhabits the arid plains. Called also ground tit, and wren tit. To bite the ground, To break ground. See under Bite, Break. To come to the ground, To fall to the ground, to come to nothing; to fail; to miscarry. To gain ground. (a) To advance; to proceed forward in conflict; as, an army in battle gains ground. (b) To obtain an advantage; to have some success; as, the army gains ground on the enemy. (c) To gain credit; to become more prosperous or influential. To get, or To gather, ground, to gain ground. [R.] "Evening mist . . . gathers ground fast." --Milton. There is no way for duty to prevail, and get ground of them, but by bidding higher. --South. To give ground, to recede; to yield advantage. These nine . . . began to give me ground. --Shak. To lose ground, to retire; to retreat; to withdraw from the position taken; hence, to lose advantage; to lose credit or reputation; to decline. To stand one's ground, to stand firm; to resist attack or encroachment. --Atterbury. To take the ground to touch bottom or become stranded; -- said of a ship.
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