Ground angling, angling with a weighted line without a float. -- Ground
annual (Scots Law), an estate created in land by a vassal who instead
of selling his land outright reserves an annual ground rent, which
becomes a perpetual charge upon the land. -- Ground ash. (Bot.) See
Groutweed. -- Ground bailiff (Mining), a superintendent of mines.
Simmonds. -- Ground bait, bits of bread, boiled barley or worms, etc.,
thrown into the water to collect the fish, Wallon. -- Ground bass or
base (Mus.), fundamental base; a fundamental base continually repeated
to a varied melody. -- Ground beetle (Zoˆl.), one of numerous species
of carnivorous beetles of the family CarabidÊ, living mostly in burrows
or under stones, etc. -- Ground chamber, a room on the ground floor. --
Ground cherry. (Bot.) (a) A genus (Physalis) of herbaceous plants
having an inflated calyx for a seed pod: esp., the strawberry tomato
(P. Alkekengi). See Alkekengl. (b) A European shrub (Prunus
ChamÊcerasus), with small, very acid fruit. -- Ground cuckoo. (Zoˆl.)
See Chaparral cock. -- Ground cypress. (Bot.) See Lavender cotton. --
Ground dove (Zoˆl.), one of several small American pigeons of the genus
Columbigallina, esp. C. passerina of the Southern United States,
Mexico, etc. They live chiefly on the ground. -- Ground fish (Zoˆl.),
any fish which constantly lives on the botton of the sea, as the sole,
turbot, halibut. -- Ground floor, the floor of a house most nearly on a
level with the ground; -- called also in America, but not in England,
the first floor. -- Ground form (Gram.), the stem or basis of a word,
to which the other parts are added in declension or conjugation. It is
sometimes, but not always, the same as the root. -- Ground furze
(Bot.), a low slightly thorny, leguminous shrub (Ononis arvensis) of
Europe and Central Asia,; -- called also rest- harrow. -- Ground game,
hares, rabbits, etc., as distinguished from winged game. -- Ground hele
(Bot.), a perennial herb (Veronica officinalis) with small blue
flowers, common in Europe and America, formerly thought to have
curative properties. -- Ground of the heavens (Astron.), the surface of
any part of the celestial sphere upon which the stars may be regarded
as projected. -- Ground hemlock (Bot.), the yew (Taxus baccata var.
Canadensisi) of eastern North America, distinguished from that of
Europe by its low, straggling stems. -- Ground hog. (Zoˆl.) (a) The
woodchuck or American marmot (Arctomys monax). See Woodchuck. (b) The
aardvark. -- Ground hold (Naut.), ground tackle. [Obs.] Spenser. --
Ground ice, ice formed at the bottom of a body of water before it forms
on the surface. -- Ground ivy. (Bot.) A trailing plant; alehoof. See
Gill. -- Ground joist, a joist for a basement or ground floor; a.
sleeper. -- Ground lark (Zoˆl.), the European pipit. See Pipit. - -
Ground laurel (Bot.). See Trailing arbutus, under Arbutus. -- Ground
line (Descriptive Geom.), the line of intersection of the horizontal
and vertical planes of projection. -- Ground liverwort (Bot.), a
flowerless plant with a broad flat forking thallus and the fruit raised
on peduncled and radiated receptacles (Marchantia polymorpha). --
Ground mail, in Scotland, the fee paid for interment in a churchyard.
-- Ground mass (Geol.), the fine-grained or glassy base of a rock, in
which distinct crystals of its constituents are embedded. -- Ground
parrakeet (Zoˆl.), one of several Australian parrakeets, of the genera
Callipsittacus and Geopsittacus, which live mainly upon the ground. --
Ground pearl (Zoˆl.), an insect of the family CoccidÊ (Margarodes
formicarum), found in ants' nests in the Bahamas, and having a shelly
covering. They are strung like beads, and made into necklaces by the
natives. -- Ground pig (Zoˆl.), a large, burrowing, African rodent
(Aulacodus Swinderianus) about two feet long, allied to the porcupines
but with harsh, bristly hair, and no spines; -- called also ground rat.
-- Ground pigeon (Zoˆl.), one of numerous species of pigeons which live
largely upon the ground, as the tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus
strigirostris), of the Samoan Islands, and the crowned pigeon, or
goura. See Goura, and Ground dove (above). -- Ground pine. (Bot.) (a) A
blue-flowered herb of the genus Ajuga (A. ChamÊpitys), formerly
included in the genus Teucrium or germander, and named from its
resinous smell. Sir J. Hill. (b) A long, creeping, evergreen plant of
the genus Lycopodium (L. clavatum); -- called also club moss. (c) A
tree-shaped evergreen plant about eight inches in height, of the same
genus (L. dendroideum) found in moist, dark woods in the northern part
of the United States. Gray. -- Ground plan (Arch.), a plan of the
ground floor of any building, or of any floor, as distinguished from an
elevation or perpendicular section. -- Ground plane, the horizontal
plane of projection in perspective drawing. -- Ground plate. (a)
(Arch.) One of the chief pieces of framing of a building; a timber laid
horizontally on or near the ground to support the uprights; a ground
sill or groundsel. (b) (Railroads) A bed plate for sleepers or ties; a
mudsill. (c) (Teleg.) A metallic plate buried in the earth to conduct
the electric current thereto. Connection to the pipes of a gas or water
main is usual in cities. Knight. -- Ground plot, the ground upon which
any structure is erected; hence, any basis or foundation; also, a
ground plan. -- Ground plum (Bot.), a leguminous plant (Astragalus
caryocarpus) occurring from the Saskatchewan to Texas, and having a
succulent plum-shaped pod. -- Ground rat. (Zoˆl.) See Ground pig
(above). -- Ground rent, rent paid for the privilege of building on
another man's land. -- Ground robin. (Zoˆl.) See Chewink. -- Ground
room, a room on the ground floor; a lower room. Tatler. -- Ground sea,
the West Indian name for a swell of the ocean, which occurs in calm
weather and without obvious cause, breaking on the shore in heavy
roaring billows; -- called also rollers, and in Jamaica, the North sea.
-- Ground sill. See Ground plate (a) (above). -- Ground snake (Zoˆl.),
a small burrowing American snake (Celuta amúna). It is salmon colored,
and has a blunt tail. -- Ground squirrel. (Zoˆl.) (a) One of numerous
species of burrowing rodents of the genera Tamias and Spermophilus,
having cheek pouches. The former genus includes the Eastern striped
squirrel or chipmunk and some allied Western species; the latter
includes the prairie squirrel or striped gopher, the gray gopher, and
many allied Western species. See Chipmunk, and Gopher. (b) Any species
of the African genus Xerus, allied to Tamias. -- Ground story. Same as
Ground floor (above). -- Ground substance (Anat.), the intercellular
substance, or matrix, of tissues. -- Ground swell. (a) (Bot.) The plant
groundsel. [Obs.] Holland. (b) A broad, deep swell or undulation of the
ocean, caused by a long continued gale, and felt even at a remote
distance after the gale has ceased. -- Ground table. (Arch.) See Earth
table, under Earth. -- Ground tackle (Naut.), the tackle necessary to
secure a vessel at anchor. Totten. -- Ground thrush (Zoˆl.), one of
numerous species of bright-colored Oriental birds of the family
PittidÊ. See Pitta. -- Ground tier. (a) The lowest tier of water casks
in a vessel's hold. Totten. (b) The lowest line of articles of any kind
stowed in a vessel's hold. (c) The lowest range of boxes in a theater.
-- Ground timbers (Shipbuilding) the timbers which lie on the keel and
are bolted to the keelson; floor timbers. Knight. -- Ground tit.
(Zoˆl.) See Ground wren (below). - - Ground wheel, that wheel of a
harvester, mowing machine, etc., which, rolling on the ground, drives
the mechanism. -- Ground wren (Zoˆl.), a small California bird (ChamÊa
fasciata) allied to the wrens and titmice. It inhabits the arid plains.
Called also ground tit, and wren tit. -- To bite the ground, To break
ground. See under Bite, Break. -- To come to the ground, To fall to the
ground, to come to nothing; to fail; to miscarry. -- To gain ground.
(a) To advance; to proceed forward in conflict; as, an army in battle
gains ground. (b) To obtain an advantage; to have some success; as, the
army gains ground on the enemy. (c) To gain credit; to become more
prosperous or influential. -- To get, or To gather, ground, to gain
ground. [R.] "Evening mist . . . gathers ground fast." Milton.
There is no way for duty to prevail, and get ground of them, but by
bidding higher.
South.
-- To give ground, to recede; to yield advantage.
These nine . . . began to give me ground.
Shak.
-- To lose ground, to retire; to retreat; to withdraw from the position
taken; hence, to lose advantage; to lose credit or reputation; to
decline. -- To stand one's ground, to stand firm; to resist attack or
encroachment. Atterbury. -- To take the ground to touch bottom or
become stranded; -- said of a ship.
Ground (ground), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Grounded; p. pr. & vb. n.
Grounding.] 1. To lay, set, or run, on the ground.
2. To found; to fix or set, as on a foundation, reason, or principle;
to furnish a ground for; to fix firmly.
Being rooted and grounded in love.
Eph. iii. 17.
So far from warranting any inference to the existence of a God,
would, on the contrary, ground even an argument to his negation.