ground level

noun

plural ground levels

1

a

: the level of the ground taken as a reference point

From ground level, the arrayed fields of feed corn and soybeans look … like sprint tracks or Olympic pools, replete with the angles and alleys of serious tennis.

—David Foster Wallace

These survey flights were conducted at 300 feet above ground level. During the return flight to Schefferville, the aircraft descended and flew over terrain at an altitude varying between 100 and 40 feet above ground level.

—Targeted New Service

compare sea level

b

: the story (see story entry 3 sense 1a) of a building with its floor aligned to ground level : ground floor sense 1

It was a two-story house with white siding on the ground level …

—Neil Sheehan

2

: the state of a physical system (as of an atomic nucleus or an atom) having the least energy of all the possible states : ground state

Examples of ground level in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The ground floor would also feature retail space in keeping with the city's goals to open up more ground level space to pedestrians. —Alysa Guffey, IndyStar, 22 Oct. 2025

Being at ground level in their grassland habitats often places them in the path of huge, hungry cattle looking to graze. —Regina Elling, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2025

Today, our GSBs can fly for well over 50 days at altitudes ranging from ground level up to around 24 kilometers. —IEEE Spectrum, 20 Oct. 2025

The original memorial measures nearly 500 feet long and more than 10 feet high at the apex, decreasing to ground level at each end. —Lou Ponsi, Oc Register, 20 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1787, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ground level

• daredevil
• sublevel
• bevel
• devil
• mediaeval
• multilevel