ground
/ɡɹaʊnd/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.15 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The surface of the Earth, as opposed to the sky or water or underground.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The area on which a battle is fought, particularly as referring to the area occupied by one side or the other. Often, according to the eventualities, "to give ground" or "to gain ground".
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Look, I found a ten dollar bill on the ground!"
- "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."
- "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."
- "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."
- "As the terrain-following radar scans the ground ahead of the aircraft the actual clearance height is measured by the radio altimeter."
- "The worm crawls through the ground."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- Proto-Indo-European *-tus 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ground, grund, *grundu, *grunduz
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɡɹaʊnd/
- British English: /ɡɹaʊnd/
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- British usage
- Indian usage
- Obsolete
- American usage
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb