aground

adverb or adjective

1
: on the ground
planes aloft and aground
2
: on or onto the shore or the bottom of a body of water
a ship run aground

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.
Rebuilding teams that don’t have veteran players — particularly veterans who can still play at a high level — run a grave risk of running aground. Josh Robbins, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025 Nearby lies the Francisco Morazán, a 247-foot-long freighter that smashed into rocks during a 1922 snowstorm; on the same tank, divers can drop by the Walter L. Frost, a wooden steamer that ran aground in 1903, and watch for cold-water fish that congregate on the wrecks, such as eel-like burbots. Nicholas Derenzo, AFAR Media, 16 Sep. 2025 The ship eventually ran aground and became stranded on a limestone outcropping on Spider Island. Denise Chow, NBC news, 1 Sep. 2025 Saturday that the Discovery ran aground approximately 60 feet outside Kewalo Basin Harbor. Alex Nitzberg, FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 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 11 Oct. 2025.

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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