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.
☞ 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
(Zoöl.), one of numerous species of carnivorous
beetles of the family Carabidæ, 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
Chamæcerasus), with small, very acid fruit. --
Ground cuckoo. (Zoöl.) See
Chaparral cock. -- Ground cypress.
(Bot.) See Lavender cotton. -- Ground
dove (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.),
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. (Zoöl.)
(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
(Zoöl.), 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
(Zoöl.), one of several Australian parrakeets, of the
genera Callipsittacus and Geopsittacus, which live
mainly upon the ground. -- Ground pearl
(Zoöl.), an insect of the family Coccidæ
(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
(Zoöl.), 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
(Zoöl.), 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. Chamæpitys), 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. (Zoöl.) See Ground pig
(above). -- Ground rent, rent paid
for the privilege of building on another man's land. --
Ground robin. (Zoöl.) 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
(Zoöl.), a small burrowing American snake (Celuta
amœna). It is salmon colored, and has a blunt tail. --
Ground squirrel. (Zoöl.)
(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
(Zoöl.), one of numerous species of bright-colored
Oriental birds of the family Pittidæ. 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.
(Zoöl.) See Ground wren (below). -
- Ground wheel, that wheel of a harvester,
mowing machine, etc., which, rolling on the ground, drives the
mechanism. -- Ground wren (Zoöl.),
a small California bird (Chamæa 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.