Meaning & use
ground
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Meanings
nounsingular
The solid surface of the earth, or the floor, where people and things stand.
Grammar: Usually the ground, with no plural: he sat on the ground.
Patterns
- on the ground
- off the ground
The children sat on the ground.
Leaves covered the ground after the storm.
The plane left the ground at noon.
nouncountable
An area of land used for a particular purpose, such as sport.
Grammar: Often used with a defining word: football ground; usually plural for the grounds of a building.
Patterns
- the grounds of something
The team plays at its home ground on Saturdays.
We walked through the grounds of the castle.
nounusually plural
A reason or basis for a belief, action or claim.
Grammar: Often grounds for something; on the grounds that means because.
Patterns
- grounds for something
- on the grounds that
She has good grounds for complaint.
He was fired on the grounds that he was often late.
verbtransitive
To stop an aircraft, pilot or child from going out or flying, as a rule or punishment.
Grammar: Takes an object, often used in the passive: the flights were grounded.
Patterns
- ground someone
- be grounded
Fog grounded all flights at the airport.
My parents grounded me for a week.
verbtransitivetechnical
To connect an electrical device to the earth for safety.
Grammar: Takes an object: ground the wire.
Patterns
- ground something
The electrician grounded the metal frame.
Word forms
| plural | grounds |
|---|---|
| third person singular | grounds |
| past tense | grounded |
| past participle | grounded |
| -ing form | grounding |
Common combinations
- on the ground
- Snow lay on the ground.
- break new ground
- The study broke new ground in medicine.
- stand your ground
- She stood her ground during the argument.
- grounds for divorce
- Cruelty was grounds for divorce.
- gain ground
- The new party is gaining ground.
Synonyms and how they differ
- earth
- Suggests soil or the planet; ground is the surface where you stand.
- floor
- The surface inside a building.
- basis
- Closer to the reason sense; ground is more often in the plural.
Opposites
Word family
- grounded adjective
- sensible and well balanced
- groundless adjective
- without good reason
- underground adjective
- below the surface
Commonly confused: ground or grounds?
ground vs grounds
Grounds can mean a reason or the land around a building, and also coffee residue; the context shows which.
Practice
The airline was forced to ___ all flights because of the volcanic ash.
Choose one answer.
To ground flights means to prevent them from flying. Land would describe aircraft touching down, not being stopped.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ground”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.