ground \ground\ (ground), n. [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.
     
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            There was not a man to till the ground. --Gen. ii.
                                                  5.
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            The fire ran along upon the ground.   --Ex. ix. 23.
    
          Hence: A floor or pavement supposed to rest upon the
     
         earth.
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   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.
   
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            From . . . old Euphrates, to the brook that parts
            Egypt from Syrian ground.             --Milton.
     
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   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.
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            Thy next design is on thy neighbor's grounds.
                                                  --Dryden. 4.
     
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   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.
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   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.
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   6. (Etching) 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.
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   7.
         (Arch.) One of the pieces of wood, flush with the
     
         plastering, to which moldings, etc., are attached; --
     
         usually in the plural.
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   Note:
         Grounds are usually put up first and the plastering
         floated flush with them.
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   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.).
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                On that ground I'll build a holy descant.
                                                  --Shak.
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   9. (Elec.) A conducting connection
         with the earth, whereby
      the earth is made part of an
         electrical circuit.
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   10. pl.
         Sediment at the bottom of liquors or liquids; dregs;
      
         lees; feces; as, coffee grounds.
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          11. The pit of a theater. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
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         Webster]

   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
         Ground base (Mus.),
         fundamental base; a

              fundamental base continually repeated to a varied
         melody.
      

   Ground beetle (Zool.), one of
         numerous species of
      carnivorous beetles of the family
         Carabid[ae],
         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 (Physalis Alkekengi). See Alkekengl.
      
         (b) A European shrub (Prunus Cham[ae]cerasus), with
           small, very acid fruit.

   Ground cuckoo.
         (Zool.) See
         Chaparral
         cock.

   Ground cypress. (Bot.) See
         Lavender
         cotton.

   Ground
         dove (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), 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. (Zool.)

               (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 (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), one of several
         Australian
      parrakeets, of the genera Callipsittacus
         and
      Geopsittacus, which
         live mainly upon the
         ground.

   Ground
         pearl (Zool.), an insect of the
         family Coccid[ae]
  
            (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 (Zool.), 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
         (Zool.), 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. Cham[ae]pitys),
         formerly included in the genus
           Teucrium or
         germander, and named from its resinous
           smell. --Sir J. 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. (Zool.) See
         Ground pig
         (above).

   Ground
         rent, rent paid for the
         privilege of building on
      another man's land.

  
         Ground robin.
         (Zool.) 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 (Zool.), a small
         burrowing American snake
      (Celuta am[oe]na).
         It is
         salmon colored, and has a blunt
      tail.

   {Ground
         squirrel}. (Zool.)
       (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
         (Zool.),
         one of numerous species of
      bright-colored Oriental
         birds of the family Pittid[ae].
      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. (Zool.)
         See Ground wren
         (below).

   Ground
         wheel, that wheel
         of a harvester, mowing machine,
      etc., which, rolling
         on the ground, drives the mechanism.
      

   {Ground
         wren} (Zool.), a small California bird ({Cham[ae]a
     
         fasciata}) allied to the wrens and titmice. It inhabits
   
           the arid plains. Called also ground tit, and {wren
         tit}.
      

   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 conflict; 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 ground, or To gather ground,
         to gain ground. [R.]
      "Evening mist . . . gathers
         ground fast." --Milton.
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            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.
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            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.

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