aground

adverb or adjective

Synonyms of agroundnext
1
: on the ground
planes aloft and aground
2
: on or onto the shore or the bottom of a body of water
A ship ran aground during the storm.

Examples of aground in a Sentence

the villagers came to stare at the foreign ship that was aground on their beach and at the strangely dressed sailors on board
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The Rocus, also known as The Bone Wreck, ran aground while transporting a cargo of cow bones to be used as fertilizer on the island, thus giving Anegada's Cow Wreck Beach its unique name. Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 7 Jan. 2026 Too many negative things — injuries, usage, lack of development in all-round game, Verbeek’s lack of belief in him being a core player — led to Zegras running aground in Anaheim. Eric Stephens, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2026 Pages of notes, quotes, then ran aground, partly because everyone seemed to be thinking of writing the same book (but also never did). Adam Smyth, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025 Rangel went on to describe what happened next, with the men using driftwood oars to attempt to row their vessel to the mainland before heavy winds ran them aground and wrecked the boat. Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 13 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for aground

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of aground was in the 14th century

Cite this Entry

“Aground.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aground. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.

Kids Definition

aground

adverb or adjective
: on or onto the shore or the bottom of a body of water
the ship ran aground

More from Merriam-Webster on aground

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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