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

Mow the planting down to nearly ground level, removing all foliage and blighted stems. —Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 1 May 2025

But at ground level, its behavior can be far more destructive. —Amal Elawady, The Conversation, 30 Apr. 2025

Speed might be addictive, but not to the guy who has experienced more of it than anyone, at ground level at least. —Ben Oliver, Robb Report, 27 Apr. 2025

Ozone occurs both in the Earth's upper atmosphere and at ground level. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1787, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ground level

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