Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - ground

~1 n »EARTH SURFACE« 1 the surface of the earth  (The leaf slowly fluttered to the ground. | The air raids were followed by military action on the ground. | below/above ground)  (miners working 10-hour shifts below ground)  (- compare floor1 (1), -see land1) 2 »SOIL« the soil on and under the surface of the earth  (Dig the ground over in autumn. | marshy ground) 3 »UNDER THE SEA« the bottom of the sea  (Our ship touched ground.) AREA 4 »OPEN LAND« an area of land without buildings or trees  (a view across open ground | They're building a car lot on some waste ground across the street.) 5 grounds plural a) a large area of land or sea that is used for a particular activity or sport  (hunting grounds | fishing grounds) b) the land or gardens around a large house, hospital etc 6 parade/recreation/burial etc ground an area of land that is used for a particular purpose  (- see also playground) 7 »SPORTS« BrE the place where a sport such as football or cricket (2) is played; stadium  (the team's home ground (=where they usually play)) 8 cover a lot of ground to travel a very long distance  (You certainly covered a lot of ground on your travels.) »SUBJECT« 9 »AREA OF KNOWLEDGE« an area of knowledge, ideas, experience etc  (go over the same ground (=talk about the same things again))  (The article says nothing new - it just goes over the same old ground. | be on familiar ground/be on your own ground (=be talking about or dealing with a subject you know a lot about))  (Keith's on familiar ground. He's worked with this type of computer before.) 10 be on dangerous/safe ground to be expressing ideas that are likely or unlikely to offend or embarrass someone 11 cover a lot of ground to give information about many different parts of a subject  (It's absurd to try to cover so much ground in such a short lecture.) »OPINION/ATTITUDE« 12 the middle ground the area of political opinion that most people agree about  (the middle ground between two passionately opposed views) 13 common ground an area of opinion that two people or groups share  (We hope to find some common ground as a basis for agreement.) 14 shift/change your ground to begin to use different reasons or ideas to support your opinions 15 hold your ground to continue to support a particular opinion in spite of opposition 16 the moral high ground an opinion that is regarded as morally better than others »REASON« 17 »REASON« C usually plural a reason, especially one that makes you think that something is true or correct  (grounds for (doing) sth)  (Jim has strong grounds for asking for more money. | on moral/legal etc grounds)  (He refused to signt he contract on moral grounds. | on grounds of)  (The divorce was granted on ground of adultery. | on the grounds that)  (Zoe was awarded compensation on the grounds that the doctor had been negligent.) SUCCESS/ADVANTAGE 18 get off the ground if a plan, a business idea etc gets off the ground, or if you get it off the ground, it starts to be successful  (It took a while for the business to get off the ground, but it's making a profit now.) 19 gain ground a) to get an advantage and become more successful  (The Republicans have been gaining ground in the opinion polls.) b) if an idea, belief etc gains ground, it starts to become accepted or believed by more people  (a theory gaining ground among academics) 20 lose ground to lose an advantage and become less successful HIDE/END 21 go to ground BrE to hide from someone, especially the police 22 run sb to ground BrE to succeed in finding someone after a long search  (I finally ran Luke to ground in the basement store room.) COLOUR/PAINT 23 »BACKGROUND« the colour that is the background for a design  (white flowers on a blue ground) 24 »PAINT« the first covering of paint on a painting »OTHER MEANINGS« 25 fertile ground/breeding ground a situation in which it is easy for something to develop  (The universities were a fertile ground for left-wing radicalism. | a breeding ground for germs) 26 on the ground in the actual place where something, especially a war, is happening, rather than in another place where it is being discussed  (While the politicians talked of peace, the situation on the ground remained tense.) 27 on your own ground/on home ground in the place or situation that is most familiar to you  (I wouldn't dream of meeting my ex-husband again unless I was on home ground.) 28 work/drive yourself into the ground to work so hard that you become extremely tired  (Kay's working herself into the ground trying to meet her deadlines.) 29 grounds plural the small pieces of something such as coffee which sink to the bottom of a liquid  (coffee grounds) 30 »ELECTRICAL« AmE a wire that connects a piece of electrical equipment to the ground for safety; earth1 (8) BrE  (- see also break new ground break1 (33), cut the ground from under sb's feet cut1 (25), have/keep both feet on the ground foot1 (16), stand your ground stand1 (8), stand/hold your ground stand1 (17), suit sb down to the ground suit2 (1), be thin on the ground thin1 (12), hit the ground running hit1 (22)) ~2 v 1 T usually passive to stop an aircraft or pilot from flying  (All planes are grounded until the fog clears.) 2 if you ground a boat or if it grounds, it hits the bottom of the sea so that it cannot move 3 be grounded in/on to be based on something  (David's values are grounded in a Protestant work ethic.) 4 informal to stop a child going out with their friends as a punishment for behaving badly  (I got home at am and Dad grounded me on the spot.) 5 AmE to make a piece of electrical equipment safe by connecting it to the ground with a wire; earth2 BrE  (- see also well­grounded) ground sb in sth phr v T usually passive to teach someone the basic things they should know in order to be able to do something  (The recruits were grounded in combat techniques.) ~3 adj only before noun ground coffee or nuts have been broken up into powder or very small pieces, using a special machine ~4 the past tense and past participle of grind1