<B>ground control,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the supervision and control of aircraft operations by a station or system of stations on the ground. </DL>
<A NAME="groundcontrolledapproach">
<B>ground controlled approach,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an approach and landing by an aircraft under ground control, due to poor visibility. (Abbr:) GCA (no periods). </DL>
<A NAME="groundcontroller">
<B>ground controller,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a man in charge of controlling flight operations from a station on the ground. </DL>
<A NAME="groundcover">
<B>ground cover,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> low plants or shrubbery planted for ornament or to enrich the soil and prevent the topsoil from eroding or blowing away. </DL>
<A NAME="groundcrew">
<B>ground crew,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the mechanics and other nonflying personnel responsible for the conditioning and maintenance of aircraft. </DL>
<A NAME="groundcuckoo">
<B>ground cuckoo,</B> =road runner.</DL>
<A NAME="groundcushion">
<B>ground cushion,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Aeronautics.) a buoyant cushion of air set up by the air driven downward by an airplane or a helicopter hovering or flying close to the ground. </DL>
<A NAME="grounddove">
<B>ground dove,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small grayish dove, only 6 1/2 inches long, found from the southern United States to Brazil. </DL>
<A NAME="groundedly">
<B>groundedly, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a well-grounded manner; with good reason. </DL>
<A NAME="groundeffectmachine">
<B>ground effect machine,</B> <B>=air cushion vehicle. [so called because of the effect of the ground in trapping the air to form a cushion]</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Abbr:) GEM (no periods). </DL>
<A NAME="grounder">
<B>grounder, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a baseball hit so as to bounce or roll along the ground; ground ball. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person or thing that founds, establishes, causes, etc. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person who does the grounding in the manufacture of wallpaper, or in other arts of design. </DL>
<A NAME="groundfir">
<B>ground fir,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several species of club moss or ground pine. </DL>
<A NAME="groundfire">
<B>ground fire,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a forest fire that spreads over the deposits of leaves, branches, and the like on the ground. </DL>
<A NAME="groundfire">
<B>groundfire, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> antiaircraft fire from the ground. </DL>
<A NAME="groundfish">
<B>groundfish, </B>noun, pl. <B>-fishes</B> or (collectively) <B>-fish.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various fishes, such as the cod, haddock, hake, pollack, cusk, and ocean perch, that swim close to the bottom of the sea. </DL>
<A NAME="groundfloor">
<B>ground floor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the floor in a building that is more or less on a level with the ground outside. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S., Figurative.) the beginning of a venture. <BR> <I>Ex. He got in on the ground floor and made a fortune.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(U.S., Figurative.) the most advantageous position in relation to a business deal or other venture. </DL>
<A NAME="groundfog">
<B>ground fog,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a low fog, usually below 100 feet, that occurs early in the morning as a result of the cooling of the earth's surface and the lower air at night. </DL>
<A NAME="groundforce">
<B>ground force,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the part of the armed forces of a nation that operates on the ground. </DL>
<A NAME="groundglass">
<B>ground glass,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>glass with the surface roughened so that it is not transparent. <DD><B> 2. </B>glass that has been ground to powder. </DL>
<A NAME="groundhemlock">
<B>ground hemlock,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several low, straggling yews that grow to a height of about six feet, found from Newfoundland to Virginia and west to Iowa; American yew. </DL>
<B>ground-hog day,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> February 2, the day when the woodchuck (ground hog) is believed to come out of his hole. If the sun is shining and he sees his shadow, the ground hog goes back in his hole and winter continues for six more weeks. </DL>
<A NAME="groundice">
<B>ground ice,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> ice formed at the bottom of a river or other body of water, supposed to be due to excessive radiation of heat from the bottom on cold, clear nights. </DL>
<A NAME="grounding">
<B>grounding, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> basic instruction or knowledge; fundamentals. <BR> <I>Ex. The training ... included the standard grounding in the current sociological and psychological theories (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="grounditch">
<B>ground itch,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an irritation and itching of the skin where the larvae of hookworms have penetrated. </DL>
<A NAME="groundivy">
<B>ground ivy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a common trailing herb of the mint family, having roundish leaves and small, purple or blue flowers; gill; hen-and-chickens; gill-over-the-ground. </DL>
<A NAME="groundkeeper">
<B>groundkeeper, </B>noun. =groundskeeper.</DL>
<A NAME="groundlaunched">
<B>ground-launched, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> set into motion from a position on the ground. <BR> <I>Ex. Air Force's Snark, ground-launched against ground targets, is a subsonic missile with ranges exceeding 5,000 miles (Time).</I> </DL>
<B>ground lease,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a lease of land for building. </DL>
<A NAME="groundless">
<B>groundless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> without foundation, basis, or reason; unfounded. <BR> <I>Ex. a groundless rumor. A groundless fiction that cannot be proved (Richard Baxter).</I> (SYN) baseless. adv. <B>groundlessly.</B> noun <B>groundlessness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="groundling">
<B>groundling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a plant or animal that lives close to the ground. <DD><B> 2. </B>a fish that lives at the bottom of the water. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person living or working on the ground, as opposed to a pilot or seaman. <BR> <I>Ex. To the groundling, the skies seem unlimited, but the traffic problem in the nation's air lanes is almost as bad as on the highways (Time).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) a spectator or reader who has poor critical taste. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Obsolete.) a person who sat in the pit of a theater, often on the ground. </DL>
<A NAME="groundlog">
<B>ground log,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a device for measuring a ship's speed in shallow water, consisting of aheavy weight on the end of a line. After the weight sinks to the bottom, the speed of the ship is determined by the amount of line paid out over a specific length of time. </DL>
<A NAME="groundloop">
<B>ground loop,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an uncontrolled, abrupt turn made by an aircraft while moving along the ground. </DL>
<A NAME="groundmass">
<B>groundmass, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the crystalline, granular, or glassy base of a porphyry, in which the more prominent crystals are embedded. </DL>
<A NAME="groundmeristem">
<B>ground meristem,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) a group of cells in a stem that gives rise to the cortex, pericycle, and pith. </DL>
<A NAME="groundmine">
<B>ground mine,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a mine that rests on the ocean floor, used in naval warfare. </DL>
<A NAME="groundmoraine">
<B>ground moraine,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Geology.) a mass of stones, broken rock, or other debris formed beneath a glacier, found in low and protected areas. </DL>
<A NAME="groundnut">
<B>groundnut, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of several plants having underground parts which are used for food, such as the peanut and a North American plant of the pea family, with small, tuberous roots; groundpea. <DD><B> 2. </B>its tuber, pod, or the like, which is good to eat. </DL>
<A NAME="groundobserver">
<B>ground observer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who observes and reports aircraft activity from the ground, especially in wartime. </DL>
<A NAME="groundout">
<B>groundout, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Baseball.) a putout on hitting a grounder. <BR> <I>Ex. Johnson ... got Brock on a groundout as the sixth run crossed the plate (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="groundowl">
<B>ground owl,</B> =burrowing owl.</DL>
<A NAME="groundparakeet">
<B>ground parakeet,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a parakeet of Australia and Tasmania that makes its home in bushes rather than in trees. </DL>
<B>ground pearl,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a bronze-colored shell that forms around certain scale insects living on the roots of plants, such as a variety found in the Bahamas. Ground pearl is used as beading for jewelry. </DL>
<B>ground pine,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of various species of club moss, especially two creeping evergreens and an erect evergreen, used for Christmas decoration and the like. <DD><B> 2. </B>a European herb of the mint family with a resinous smell. </DL>
<A NAME="groundpink">
<B>ground pink,</B> =moss pink.</DL>
<A NAME="groundplan">
<B>ground plan,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the plan of a floor of a building. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) the first or fundamental plan upon which any work is constructed or composed. </DL>
<A NAME="groundplate">
<B>ground plate,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a metal plate sunk in the ground and connecting an electric circuit with the earth. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=groundsill.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>plate under a railroad tie. </DL>
<A NAME="groundplum">
<B>ground plum,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a plant of the pea family, a milk vetch, growing in the American prairie regions. <DD><B> 2. </B>its edible fruit, that resembles a plum in size and shape. <DD><B> 3. </B>any one of various allied plants or their fruit. </DL>
<A NAME="groundrat">
<B>ground rat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several large African rodents; ground pig. </DL>
<A NAME="groundrent">
<B>ground rent,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British.) the rent paid for land leased for building purposes. </DL>
