1. (

• land ,
• dry_land ,
• earth ,
• ground ,
• solid_ground ,
• terra_firma

) the solid part of the earth's surface; "the plane turned away from the sea and moved back over land"; "the earth shook for several minutes"; "he dropped the logs on the ground" ;

2. (

• reason ,
• ground

) a rational motive for a belief or action; "the reason that war was declared"; "the grounds for their declaration" ;

3. (

• earth ,
• ground

) the loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface; "they dug into the earth outside the church" ;

4. (

• footing ,
• basis ,
• ground

) a relation that provides the foundation for something; "they were on a friendly footing"; "he worked on an interim basis" ;

5. (

• ground

) a position to be won or defended in battle (or as if in battle); "they gained ground step by step"; "they fought to regain the lost ground" ;

6. (

• background ,
• ground

) the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground; "he posed her against a background of rolling hills" ;

7. (

• land ,
• ground ,
• soil

) material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use); "the land had never been plowed"; "good agricultural soil" ;

8. (

• ground ,

) a relatively homogeneous percept extending back of the figure on which attention is focused ;

9. (

• ground ,
• earth

) a connection between an electrical device and a large conducting body, such as the earth (which is taken to be at zero voltage) ;

10. (

• ground ,

) (art) the surface (as a wall or canvas) prepared to take the paint for a painting ;

11. (

• flat_coat ,
• ground ,
• primer ,
• priming ,
• primer_coat ,
• priming_coat ,
• undercoat ,

) the first or preliminary coat of paint or size applied to a surface ;

1. (

• anchor ,
• ground ,

) fix firmly and stably; "anchor the lamppost in concrete" ;

2. (

• ground ,

) confine or restrict to the ground; "After the accident, they grounded the plane and the pilot" ;

3. (

• ground

) place or put on the ground ;

4. (

• ground

) instruct someone in the fundamentals of a subject ;

5. (

• ground ,
• strand ,
• run_aground ,

) bring to the ground; "the storm grounded the ship" ;

6. (

• ground ,
• run_aground ,

) hit or reach the ground ;

7. (

• ground ,

) throw to the ground in order to stop play and avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage ;

8. (

• ground ,

) hit a groundball; "he grounded to the second baseman" ;

9. (

• ground ,

) hit onto the ground ;

10. (

• prime ,
• ground ,
• undercoat

) cover with a primer; apply a primer to ;

11. (

• ground ,

) connect to a ground; "ground the electrical connections for safety reasons" ;

12. (

• establish ,
• base ,
• ground ,
• found

) use as a basis for; found on; "base a claim on some observation" ;