Meaning & use
ground clearance
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
The distance between the lowest part of a vehicle and the ground.
Grammar: Uncountable: you say 'a lot of ground clearance' or 'high ground clearance', not 'a ground clearance'.
Patterns
- ground clearance of something
- high ground clearance
- low ground clearance
This SUV has high ground clearance, so it can handle rough roads.
The sports car has very low ground clearance, which makes it scrape on speed bumps.
You should check the ground clearance before driving off-road.
Common combinations
- high ground clearance
- Trucks usually have high ground clearance for off-road driving.
- low ground clearance
- The low ground clearance of the car makes it hard to park over curbs.
- increase ground clearance
- He installed a lift kit to increase the ground clearance.
- ground clearance of
- The ground clearance of this model is about 8 inches.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ride height
- Ride height is a more technical term for the distance between the chassis and the ground, often used in automotive contexts.
Commonly confused: ground clearance or clearance?
ground clearance vs clearance
Clearance alone can mean the act of removing things, or official permission. Ground clearance specifically refers to the space under a vehicle.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'ground clearance' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Ground clearance is uncountable, so you say 'a ground clearance of 15 centimeters' or '15 centimeters of ground clearance'. 'Many ground clearances' is wrong because it is not countable in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ground clearance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.