GROUNDINGS
Noun
groundings
plural of grounding
Source: Wiktionary
GROUNDING
Ground"ing, n.
Definition: The act, method, or process of laying a groundwork or
foundation; hence, elementary instruction; the act or process of
applying a ground, as of color, to wall paper, cotton cloth, etc.; a
basis.
GROUND
Ground, n. Etym: [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:
Definition: 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)
Definition: 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.)
Definition: One of the pieces of wood, flush with the plastering, to which
moldings, etc., are attached; -- usually in the plural.
Note: 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.)
Definition: A conducting connection with the earth, whereby the earth is
made part of an electrical circuit.
10. pl.
Definition: 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 L. 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
amoena). 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 inhibits the arid plains. Called
also gronnd tit, and wren lit.
– 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 confict;
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.
Ground, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Grounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Grounding.]
1. To lay, set, or run, on the ground.
2. To found; to fix or set, as on a foundation, reason, or principle;
to furnish a ground for; to fix firmly.
Being rooted and grounded in love. Eph. iii. 17.
So far from warranting any inference to the existence of a God,
would, on the contrary, ground even an argument to his negation. Sir
W. Hamilton
3. To instruct in elements or first principles.
4. (Elec.)
Definition: To connect with the ground so as to make the earth a part of an
electrical circuit.
5. (Fine Arts)
Definition: To cover with a ground, as a copper plate for etching (see
Ground, n., 5); or as paper or other materials with a uniform tint as
a preparation for ornament.
Ground, v. i.
Definition: To run aground; to strike the bottom and remain fixed; as, the
ship grounded on the bar.
Ground,
Definition: imp. & p. p. of Grind. Ground cock, a cock, the plug of which
is ground into its seat, as distinguished from a compression cock.
Knight.
– Ground glass, glass the transparency of which has been destroyed
by having its surface roughened by grinding.
– Ground joint, a close joint made by grinding together two pieces,
as of metal with emery and oil, or of glass with fine sand and water.
GRIND
Grind, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ground; p. pr. & vb. n. Grinding.] Etym:
[AS. grindan; perh. akin to L. frendere to gnash, grind. Cf. Grist.]
1. To reduce to powder by friction, as in a mill, or with the teeth;
to crush into small fragments; to produce as by the action of
millstones.
Take the millstones, and grind meal. Is. xivii. 2.
2. To wear down, polish, or sharpen, by friction; to make smooth,
sharp, or pointed; to whet, as a knife or drill; to rub against one
another, as teeth, etc.
3. To oppress by severe exactions; to harass.
To grind the subject or defraud the prince. Dryden.
4. To study hard for examination. [College Slang]
Grind, v. i.
1. To perform the operation of grinding something; to turn the
millstones.
Send thee Into the common prison, there to grind. Milton.
2. To become ground or pulverized by friction; as, this corn grinds
well.
3. To become polished or sharpened by friction; as, glass grinds
smooth; steel grinds to a sharp edge.
4. To move with much difficulty or friction; to grate.
5. To perform hard aud distasteful service; to drudge; to study hard,
as for an examination. Farrar.
Grind, n.
1. The act of reducing to powder, or of sharpening, by friction.
2. Any severe continuous work or occupation; esp., hard and
uninteresting study. [Colloq.] T. Hughes.
3. A hard student; a dig. [College Slang]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition