Ground Meaning
/ɡɹaʊnd/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe surface of the Earth, as opposed to the sky or water or underground.
nounTerrain.
Sentence Examples
The hot sun baked the ground dry.
The pirates buried their treasure in the ground.
I found her lying on the ground.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The teacher had to ____ the student for misbehaving in class.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The heavy rain soaked into the ____, turning the dry dirt path into a thick and slippery mess of mud.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem-der. Proto-Germanic *grunduz Old English grund Middle English ground English ground From Middle English ground, from Old English grund, from Proto-West Germanic *grundu, from Proto-Germanic *grunduz. Cognate with West Frisian grûn, Dutch grond and German Grund. (to punish): Compare (to bring) down to earth, to come down to earth.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […] Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas."
— 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
"From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts."
— 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
"As the terrain-following radar scans the ground ahead of the aircraft the actual clearance height is measured by the radio altimeter."
— 1971, “The development of terrain following radar: an account of the progress made with an airborne guidance system for low flying military aircraft”, in Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology:
"Wyth cry unreverent,
Before the sacrament,
Wythin the holy church bowndis,
That of our fayth the grownd is."
— c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 11–14:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The teacher had to ____ the student for misbehaving in class.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The heavy rain soaked into the ____, turning the dry dirt path into a thick and slippery mess of mud.