ground 
(1) The lowest range of water-casks in the hold of a vessel 
before the introduction of iron tanks. (2) The lowest 
range of any material stowed ill the hold. Ground 
water. See water. 
ground 1 (ground), !-. [< ME. grounden, found, 
establish; also, in earlier forms, gniiidien, gren- 
di'ii, tr. bring to the ground, intr. descend or 
set (as the sun), < AS. gri/iidan, a-</ryndan, intr., 
descend or set (= I), gnunli'ii = OHG. gruiulni, 
MHG-. G. griindcn = Sw. grunda = Dan. grunde, 
found, establish, etc.), < grand, bottom, base, 
ground: see ground 1 , .] I. trans. 1. Toplace 
on a foundation ; found ; establish firmly in 
position. 
Their houses wherein they sleepe, they (/round vpon a 
round foundation of wickers artificially wrought and com- 
pacted together. Ilakluyt's Voyages, 1. 95. 
2. To settle or establish in any way, as on rea- 
son or principle ; fix or settle firmly in exis- 
tence or in thought. 
He ... gert the ledis to beleue, that in his lond dwelt, 
That the gome was a god groundet in blisse. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4348. 
Our men, . . . grounding themselues vpon the good- 
nesse of their cause, and the promise of God, . . . caried 
resolute mindes. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 2s*}. 
This duke 
Hath ta'en displeasure 'gainst his gentle niece : 
Grounded upon no other argument 
But that the people praise her for her virtues. 
Shat., As you Like it, L 2. 
3. To instruct thoroughly in elements or first 
principles. 
For he was grounded in astronomye. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 414. 
The Latin I have sufficiently tried him in, and I prom- 
ise you, sir, he is very well grounded. 
Beau, and Fl., Wit at Several Weapons, i. 2. 
The fact is she had learned it [French] long ago, and 
grounded herself subsequently in the grammar so as to 
be able to teach it to George. 
Thackeray, Vanity Fab-, Ixiii. 
4. To lay or set on or in the ground; bring to 
ground, or to rest on or as if on the ground. 
And th' Okes, deep grounded in the earthly molde, 
Did move, as if they could him understand. 
Spenser, Virgil's Gnat, 1. 453. 
When the fans are thus discharged, the word of com- 
mand, in course, is to ground their fans. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 102. 
Our guard did his duty well, pacing back and forth, and 
occasionally grounding his musket to keep up his cou- 
rage by the sound. /;. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 99. 
5. Naut., to run ashore or aground ; cause to 
strike the ground: as, to ground a ship. 
The grounded floe-bergs are forced up the shelving sea- 
bottoms. Amer. Nat., XXII. 230. 
6. In elect., to connect with the earth, as a con- 
ductor, so that the electricity can pass off to it. 
If an accidental connection with the ground should oc- 
cur, or, as it is technically said, a ground appears on the 
wires, it is at once tested for by grounding the circuit at 
the office. T. D. Lockwood, Elect., Mag., and Teleg., p. 138. 
7. To form a ground on or for ; furnish with a 
ground or base. See ground 1 , n., 10. 
For the first biting, ground and smoke the plate In the 
ordinary manner. Workshop Receipts, 1st ser., p. 160. 
To ground arms (milit.). to lay the arms upon the 
ground in front of the soldier : an old movement used 
especially by prisoners in cases of capture or surrender. 
Every burgher . . . should grouitd arms, in token of 
submission. Macaalay, Hist. Eng., xiii. 
To ground in, in hand Hock-printing, to apply secondary 
and subsequent colors to (a cotton cloth which has received 
the color of the first block). 
II. intrans. 1. To run aground; strike the 
ground and remain fixed, as a ship. 
Ere wee had sayled halfe a league, our ship grounding 
gaue vs once more libertie to summon them to a parley. 
Quoted in Capt. John A'i ith's Works, I. 238. 
Romero himself, whose ship had grounded, sprang out 
of a port hole and swam ashore. 
Motley, Dutch Republic, II. 527. 
2. To come to or strike the ground. 
He [the batsman] is ... out if he strikes the ball into 
the air and it is caught by one of his adversaries before it 
grounds. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 178. 
3. To base an opinion or course of action; de- 
pend. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
Ground not upon dreams ; you know they are ever con- 
trary. Middleton, Family of Love, iv. 3. 
I say, moreover, and I ground upon experience, that 
poisons contain within themselves their own antidote. 
Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, ii. 10. 
ground 2 (ground). Preterit and past participle 
of grind. 
groundage (groun'daj), . [< ground 1 + -age.'] 
A tax paid for the ground or space occupied 
by a ship while in port. 
The soyle of the shore and sea adjoining is now the 
kings, and particular lords, according to their titles : in- 
somuch that it is ordinary to take toll and custom for 
anchorage, groundage, &c. 
Spelmun, Of the Admiral Jurisdiction. 
2635 
ground-angling (ground'ang'gling), . An- 
gling without a float, with a weight placed a 
few inches from the hook, so as to sink it near- 
ly to the bottom. Also called bottom-falling. 
ground-annual (ground'an"u-al), n. In Scots 
Inif, an estate created in land by a vassal, who, 
instead of selling his land for a gross sum, re- 
serves an annual ground-rent. 
ground-ash (ground'ash), n. An ash-sapling 
of a few years' growth. Jfalliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
ground-bailiff (ground'ba/lif), n. In mining, 
a superintendent of mines whose duty it is to 
visit them periodically and report upon their 
condition. [Eng.] 
ground-bait (ground'bat),n. 1. In angling, bait 
dropped to the bottom of the water to attract 
fish. 2. Same as groundling, 2 (). 
ground-bait (ground'bat), r. t. In angling, to 
use ground-bait in or on : as, to ground-bait a 
place where one intends to fish. 
ground-beam (ground'bem), n. In carp., the 
sill for a frame. 
ground-beetle (ground ' be ' tl), n. A preda- 
tory beetle of the family C'arabida': so called 
from its mode of life, 
most of the species be- 
ing found running over 
the ground or hidden dur- 
ing the day under stones 
and other objects. The 
number of genera and species 
is very large; they are dis- 
tributed through all continents 
from the polar zones to the 
tropics. They are carnivorous 
for the most part, though some 
genera of the group Harpalince 
are occasionally or even habit- 
ually herbivorous The fiery 
ground-beetle, Calosoma call- 
dum, is One Of the most COn- Fiery Cround-beetle ( Cat*, 
SpiCUOUS Carnivorous Species. macalidum), natural size. 
To the herbivorous group be- 
longs the murky ground-beetle, Harpalus caliginosus, 
which is abundant in the northerly parts of the United 
States; H. pennvylvanicus is a related species. See cut 
under Harpalus. 
groundberry (ground 'ber'i), .; pi. ground- 
berries (-iz). The wintergreeu or checkerberry, 
Gaultheria procumbens. 
ground-bird ( ground 'berd), n. 1. A ground- 
sparrow. [New Eng.] 2. In Blyth's edition 
of Cuvier (1849), a general name for any col- 
umbine, gallinaceous, grallatorial, or struthious 
bird. 
ground-cherry (ground'cher"i), . 1. A plant, 
Prunus (Cerasus) Chamcecerusus, with smooth 
shining leaves and spherical acid fruit, some- 
times found in gardens budded on the common 
cherry. See cherry*, 1. 2. An American plant 
of the genus Physalis. 
ground-cistus (ground'sis'tus), w. See cisttis. 
ground-cloth (ground'kloth), n. Theat.,& paint- 
ed cloth laid on the stage to represent grass, 
gravel walks, etc. 
ground-CUCkoo (ground'kuk"6), n. 1. An old- 
world cuckoo of the subfamily Centropodina? ; a 
spur-heeled cuckoo. 2. Anew-world cuckoo 
of the genus Geococcyx or subfamily Suurothe- 
rina;. The ground-cuckoo of the United States Is G. 
californianus. Also called chaparral-cock, road-runner, 
and paisano. See cut under chaparral-cock. A similar 
but smaller Mexican species is G. ajfinis. 
ground-dove (ground'duv), . A dove or pi- 
geon of notably terrestrial habits, (a) A pigeon 
of the genus Geopelia. (f>) A pigeon of the subfamily 
Gourinae. Also called ground-pigeon, (c) Especially, in 
the United States, Chain&pelia or Columtngallina pasxe- 
rina, the dwarf ground-dove. It is one of the smallest 
birds of its kind, being only 6$ to 7 inches long, and 10 or 
11 in extent of wings. It has short broad wings and tail 
Dwarf Ground-dove (Cttamafcliaoi Coltimbigallina passerina). 
(the latter being nearly even and of 12 feathers), naked 
tarsi, no iridescence on head or neck, and blue black spots 
on the wings, the male being varied with grayish olive, 
bluish and purplish-red tints, and having the wings lined 
with orange-brown or chestnut. The color of the female 
is chietiy grayish. This pretty bird inhabits the southern 
grounding 
United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, especially 
along the coasts ; it nests on the ground or on bushes, and 
lays two white eggs seven eighths of an inch long and two 
thirds of an inch broad. 
ground-down (ground-doun'), M. A kind of 
needle shorter than the kind called sharps: a 
trade-name. 
groundedly (groun'ded-li), adv. In a well- 
grounded or firmly established manner; with 
good reason. 
Yea ye know they be very true that is to say, certainly, 
groundedly, and perflghtly true ; why than beleue ye them 
not? Up. Bale, Apology, fol. 98. 
John the Pannonian, groundedly believed 
A blacksmith's bastard. Brou-ning, Protus. 
groundent. An obsolete past participle of grind. 
Chaucer. 
grounder (groun'der), n. In base-ball and sim- 
ilar games, a ball knocked or thrown along the 
ground and not rising into the air. 
ground-fast (ground'fast), a. Firmly fixed in 
the ground. [Rare.] 
In Yorkshire they kneel on a ground-fast stone and say ^- 
All hail to the moon, all hail to thee, 
I prithee, good moon, reveal to me 
This night who my husband shall be. 
Defoe, Duncan Campbell, Int. 
ground-feeder (ground'feMer), n. A fish which 
feeds at the bottom of the water. 
Sturgeons are ground-feeders. With their projecting 
wedge-shaped snout they stir up the soft bottom, and by 
means of their sensitive barbels detect shells, crustaceans, 
and small fishes, on which they feed. 
Encyc. Brit., XXII. 611. 
ground-finch (ground'fmch), n. 1. An Ameri- 
can finch of the genus Pipilo. The towhee 
bunting or chewink is sometimes called the 
red-eyed ground-finch. Sclater. See cut under 
Pipilo. 2f. A bird of Swainson's subfamily 
Fringillina!. 
ground-fir (ground'fer), n. Same as ground- 
pine, 2. 
ground-fish (ground'fish), n. Afish which swims 
at the bottom of the water, and must be fished 
for there. Among ground-fish are the cod, 
hake, haddock, cusk, ling, flounder, and hali- 
but. 
ground-game (ground'gam), n. Hares, rabbits, 
and other running game, as distinguished from 
flying game, as pheasants, grouse, partridges, 
etc. 
ground-gru (ground'grii), n. [< ground* + 'gru, 
of obscure origin.] Same as ground-ice. Imp. 
Diet. 
ground-gudgeon (ground'guj''on), n. Same as 
groundling, 2 (a). [Local, Eng.] 
ground-helet, A species of speedwell, Vero- 
nica officinalin. 
ground-hemlock (ground'hem"lok),n. Acreep- 
ing variety of the common yew, Taxus baccata, 
found in the United States. 
ground-hog (ground'hog), n. 1. The Ameri- 
can marmot, Arctomys monax, more commonly 
called woodchuck. See cut under Arctomys. 2. 
The aardvark or ant-eater of Africa, Oryctero- 
pus capensis. Also called ground-pig and earth- 
nog. See cut under aardvark. 3. One of the 
fat white grubs or larvee of some beetles, as 
the June-bug or the May-beetle. Also called 
white-grub. [Local, U. S.] 4. A Madagascan 
insectivorous mammal of the family Centetida>, 
as the Centetcn ecaudatus. Ground-hog day. See 
woodchuck day, under woodchuck. 
ground-hold (ground'hold), n. Naut., tackle 
for holding on to the ground; anchors collec- 
tively; also, anchorage. 
Like as a ship with dreadfull storme long tost, 
Having spent all her mastes and her ground-hold. 
Spenser, F. Q., VI. iv. 1. 
ground-hornbill (ground'h6rn"bil), n. An Afri- 
can bird of the family Bucerotidai, the Bueorvus 
abyssinictts. 
ground-ice (ground'is), n. Ice formed at the 
bottom of a river or other body of water, be- 
fore ice begins to appear on the surface. Also 
called anchor-ice. 
There are certain conditions under which ice may be 
actually formed at the bottom of a stream. . . . This for- 
mation of ground-ice is occasionally seen in parts of the 
Thames. Huxley, Physiography, p. 152. 
grounding (groun ' ding), . [Verbal n. of 
ground*, .] 1. The background of any de- 
sign, as in embroidery, especially when itself 
made of needlework. 2. The act of putting 
in or preparing such a background. 3. Alu- 
mina and oil applied to wall-paper which is 
to be satin-finished. 4. In ceram., same as 
ground-laying. 5. In marble-working, the oper- 
ation of smoothing the surface of the marble 
with a succession of fine emeries. 
