Entry Word: ground

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 grounds pluralthe area around and belonging to a building <an escorted tour of the White House and its surrounding grounds>

Synonyms demesne, park, premises, yard

Related Words acres, estate, land, lot, parcel, plot, property, real estate, realty; campus; backyard, churchyard, dooryard, schoolyard

2 grounds pluralmatter that settles to the bottom of a body of liquid <strain the coffee to remove the grounds> — see deposit 1
3 grounds pluralsomething (as a belief) that serves as the basis for another thing <your dislike of her haircut would be insufficient grounds for firing her> — see reason 2
4 a small area of usually open land <I'll meet you at the parade ground in two hours> — see field 1
5 an immaterial thing upon which something else rests <opposed to the notion that religious law should be used as a ground for civil law> — see base 1
6 the loose surface material in which plants naturally grow <stuck the shovel in the ground and went inside for a glass of water> — see dirt 1
7 the physical conditions or features that form the setting against which something is viewed <take her picture against a blue ground in order to bring out her blue eyes> — see background 1
8 the solid part of our planetʼs surface as distinguished from the sea and air <one of the Nordic creation myths states that the ground was formed by the body of the giant Ymir when he was killed by Odin and his brothers> — see earth 2