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Ground vs Down - What's the difference?

ground | down |

As a noun ground

is (senseid)(uncountable) the surface of the earth, as opposed to the sky or water or underground.

As a verb ground

is to connect (an electrical conductor or device) to a ground or ground can be (grind).

As an adjective ground

is crushed, or reduced to small particles.

As a proper noun down is

one of the counties of northern ireland.

ground

English

(wikipedia ground)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) grund , from (etyl) .

Alternative forms

* (contraction used in electronics)

Noun

  • (senseid)(uncountable) The surface of the Earth, as opposed to the sky or water or underground.
  • * , chapter=23
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.}}
  • *
  • Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […]  Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The new masters and commanders , passage=From the ground , Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts.}}
  • (uncountable) Terrain.
  • (uncountable) Soil, earth.
  • (countable) The bottom of a body of water.
  • Basis, foundation, groundwork, legwork.
  • Background, context, framework, surroundings.
  • * '>citation
  • The plain surface upon which the figures of an artistic composition are set.
  • crimson flowers on a white ground
  • In sculpture, a flat surface upon which figures are raised in relief.
  • In point lace, the net of small meshes upon which the embroidered pattern is applied.
  • Brussels ground
  • In etching, a gummy substance spread over the surface of a metal to be etched, to prevent the acid from eating except where an opening is made by the needle.
  • (architecture, mostly, in the plural) One of the pieces of wood, flush with the plastering, to which mouldings etc. are attached.
  • Grounds are usually put up first and the plastering floated flush with them.
  • (countable) A soccer stadium.
  • (electricity, Canadian, and, US) An electrical conductor connected to the ground.
  • (electricity, Canadian, and, US) A level of electrical potential used as a zero reference.
  • (countable, cricket) The area of grass on which a match is played (a cricket field); the entire arena in which it is played; the part of the field behind a batsman's popping crease where he can not be run out (hence to make one's ground ).
  • (music) A composition in which the bass, consisting of a few bars of independent notes, is continually repeated to a varying melody.
  • (music) The tune on which descants are raised; the plain song.
  • * 1592 , (William Shakespeare), '', act III, scene vii, in: ''The Works of Shake?pear V (1726), page 149:
  • Buck''&
  • 91;]   The Mayor is here at hand; pretend ?ome fear, // Be not you ?poke with, but by mighty ?uit; // And look you get a prayer-book in your hand, // And ?tand between two churchmen, good my lord, // For on that ground I’ll build a holy de?cant: // And be not ea?ily won to our reque?ts: // Play the maid’s part, ?till an?wer nay, and take it.
  • The pit of a theatre.
  • (Ben Jonson)
    Synonyms
    * (electricity) earth (British)
    Derived terms
    * aboveground / above ground * air-to-ground * aground * break ground * breeding ground * burial ground * common ground * cricket ground * cumber ground / cumber-ground / cumberground * dead ground * ear to the ground * facts on the ground * fairground * figure and ground * from the ground up * gain ground * get off the ground * give ground * gill-over-the-ground * go to ground * ground bait * ground ball * ground bass * ground beetle * ground berry * ground-breaker * ground-breaking * ground cable * ground cedar * ground cherry * ground cloth * ground clutter * ground control * ground cover * ground effect * ground fault * ground fir * ground fire * ground fish * ground floor * ground forces * ground game * ground glass * ground hemlock * ground hog / ground-hog / groundhog * ground itch * ground ivy * ground lamella * ground laurel * ground level * ground loop * groundly * ground meristem * ground noise * ground offensive * ground out * ground pangolin * ground pine * ground plan * ground plane * ground plate * ground plum * ground pounder * ground proximity warning system * ground rattlesnake * ground rent * ground robin * ground roller * ground rule / ground-rule * ground-shaker * ground shark * ground sloth * groundsman * ground snake * ground speed * ground spider * ground squirrel * ground state * ground stroke * ground substance * ground swell * ground tackle * ground tissue * ground-to-air * ground truth * ground water * ground wave * ground wire * ground zero * groundwork * high ground / moral high ground * hit the ground running * home ground * kiss the ground someone walks on * know one's ass from a hole in the ground * lose ground * middle ground * neutral ground * off the ground * on the ground * parade ground * picnic ground * pleasure ground * proving ground * run into the ground * school ground * solid ground / on solid ground * stamping ground * stand one's ground * stomping ground * teeing ground * testing ground * thick on the ground * thin on the ground * underground * vantage ground * (ground)
    See also
    * floor * terra firma

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To connect (an electrical conductor or device) to a ground.
  • To punish, especially a child or teenager, by forcing him/her to stay at home and/or give up certain privileges.
  • If you don't clean your room, I'll be forced to ground you.
    Carla, you are grounded until further notice for lying to us about where you were yesterday.
    My kids are currently grounded from television.
  • To forbid (an aircraft or pilot) to fly.
  • Because of the bad weather, all flights were grounded .
  • To give a basic education in a particular subject; to instruct in elements or first principles.
  • Jim was grounded in maths.
  • (baseball) to hit a ground ball; to hit a ground ball which results in an out. Compare fly (verb(regular)) and line (verb).
  • Jones grounded to second in his last at-bat.
  • (cricket) (of a batsman) to place his bat, or part of his body, on the ground behind the popping crease so as not to be run out
  • To run aground; to strike the bottom and remain fixed.
  • The ship grounded on the bar.
  • To found; to fix or set, as on a foundation, reason, or principle; to furnish a ground for; to fix firmly.
  • * Bible, Ephesians iii. 17
  • being rooted and grounded in love
  • * Sir W. Hamilton
  • So far from warranting any inference to the existence of a God, would, on the contrary, ground even an argument to his negation.
  • (fine arts) To cover with a ground, as a copper plate for etching, or as paper or other materials with a uniform tint as a preparation for ornament.
  • Etymology 2

    * See also milled.

    Verb

    (head)
  • (grind)
  • I ground the coffee up nicely.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Crushed, or reduced to small particles.
  • ground mustard seed
  • Processed by grinding.
  • lenses of ground glass
    Synonyms
    * milled

    Derived terms

    * ground beef * ground pepper * stone-ground

    down

    English

    (wikipedia down)

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) doun, from (etyl) , from British Celtic dunon'' 'hill; hillfort' (compare Welsh ''din'' 'hill', Irish ''dún'' 'hill, fort'), from (etyl) *''dheue'' or ''dhwene . More at (town); akin to (dune).

    Noun

  • Hill, rolling grassland
  • Churchill Downs', Upson '''Downs (from ''Auntie Mame , by Patrick Dennis).
  • * 1610 , , act 4 scene 1
  • And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown
    My bosky acres and my unshrubb'd down
  • * Ray
  • Hills afford prospects, as they must needs acknowledge who have been on the downs of Sussex.
  • * Tennyson
  • She went by dale, and she went by down .
  • (usually plural) Field, especially for racing.
  • (UK, mostly, in the plural) A tract of poor, sandy, undulating or hilly land near the sea, covered with fine turf which serves chiefly for the grazing of sheep.
  • * Sandys
  • Seven thousand broad-tailed sheep grazed on his downs .
  • A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war.
  • * Cook (First Voyage)
  • On the 11th [June, 1771] we run up the channel at noon we were abreast of Dover, and about three came to an anchor in the Downs , and went ashore at Deal.

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) .

    Adverb

  • (lb) From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.
  • *
  • It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
  • * , chapter=6
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.}}
  • (lb) At a lower place or position.
  • South (as south is at the bottom of typical maps).
  • (lb) Away from the city (even if the location is to the North).
  • Into a state of non-operation.
  • (lb) The direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.
  • (lb) Get down.
  • Away from Oxford or Cambridge.
  • From a remoter or higher antiquity.
  • * (and other bibliograpic details) (Daniel Webster)
  • Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation.
  • From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence.
  • (Arbuthnot)
  • From less to greater detail.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.}}
  • (lb)
  • Usage notes
    * Down' can be used with verbs in ways that change the meaning of the verb in ways not entirely predictable from the meanings of the ' down and the verb, though related to them. See .
    Antonyms
    * (From a higher position to a lower one) up * (At a lower place) up * up * (Into a state of non-operation) up * up

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • From the higher end to the lower of.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.}}
  • From one end to another of.
  • Antonyms
    * (From the higher end to the lower) up
    Derived terms
    * (from the higher end to the lower) sell down the river

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Depressed, feeling low.
  • So, things got you down ? / Is Rodney Dangerfield giving you no respect? / Well, bunky, cheer up!
  • On a lower level than before.
  • The stock market is down .
    Prices are down .
  • Having a lower score than an opponent.
  • They are down by 3-0 with just 5 minutes to play.
    He was down by a bishop and a pawn after 15 moves.
    At 5-1 down , she produced a great comeback to win the set on a tiebreak.
  • (baseball, colloquial, following the noun modified) Out.
  • Two down and one to go in the bottom of the ninth.
  • (colloquial) With "on", negative about, hostile to
  • Ever since Nixon, I've been down on Republicans.
  • (not comparable, US, slang) Relaxed about, accepting of.
  • Are you down to hang out at the mall, Jamal?
    As long as you're down with helping me pick a phone, Tyrone.
  • (not comparable) Inoperable; out of order; out of service.
  • ''The system is down .
  • Finished]] (of a task); defeated or [[deal with, dealt with (of an opponent or obstacle); elapsed (of time). Often coupled with to go (remaining).
  • Two down and three to go. (Two tasks completed and three more still to be done.)
    Ten minutes down and nothing's happened yet.
  • (not comparable, military, police, slang, of a person) Wounded and unable to move normally; killed.
  • We have an officer down outside the suspect's house.
    There are three soldiers down and one walking wounded.
  • (not comparable, military, aviation, slang, of an aircraft) Mechanically failed, collided, shot down, or otherwise suddenly unable to fly.
  • We have a chopper down near the river .
  • Thoroughly practiced, learned or memorised; mastered.
  • It's two weeks until opening night and our lines are still not down yet.
  • * 2013 , P.J. Hoover, Solstice , (ISBN 0765334690), page 355:
  • I stay with Chloe the longest. When she's not hanging out at the beach parties, she lives in a Japanese garden complete with an arched bridge spanning a pond filled with koi of varying sizes and shapes. Reeds shoot out of the water, rustling when the fish swim through them, and river-washed stones are sprinkled in a bed of sand. Chloe has this whole new Japanese thing down .
  • (obsolete) Downright; absolute; positive.
  • a down denial
    (Beaumont and Fletcher)
    Antonyms
    * (Depressed) up * (On a lower level) up * (Having a lower score) up * (Inoperable) up

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To drink or swallow, especially without stopping before the vessel containing the liquid is empty.
  • He downed an ale and ordered another.
  • To cause to come down; to knock down or subdue.
  • The storm downed several old trees along the highway.
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
  • To down proud hearts.
  • * Madame D'Arblay
  • I remember how you downed Beauclerk and Hamilton, the wits, once at our house.
  • (pocket billiards) To put a ball in a pocket; to pot a ball.
  • He downed two balls on the break.
  • (American football) To bring a play to an end by touching the ball to the ground or while it is on the ground.
  • He downed it at the seven-yard line.
  • To write off; to make fun of.
  • (obsolete) To go down; to descend.
  • (John Locke)
    Synonyms
    * (drink) See also

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a negative aspect; a downer.
  • I love almost everything about my job. The only down is that I can't take Saturdays off.
  • (dated) A grudge ((on) someone).
  • * 1974 , (GB Edwards), The Book of Ebenezer Le Page , New York 2007, p. 10:
  • She had a down on me. I don't know what for, I'm sure; because I never said a word.
  • An act of swallowing an entire drink in one.
  • (American football) A single play, from the time the ball is snapped (the start) to the time the whistle is blown (the end) when the ball is down'', or ''is downed .
  • I bet after the third down , the kicker will replace the quarterback on the field.
  • (crosswords) A clue whose solution runs vertically in the grid.
  • I haven't solved 12 or 13 across, but I've got most of the downs .
  • An downstairs room of a two story house.
  • She lives in a two-up two-down .
  • down payment
  • Derived terms

    * down and out * down at heel * down for the count * down in the dumps * down in the mouth * down memory lane * down on one's luck * down payment * down pat * downed (US and Canadian football) * downer * down to the short strokes * first down (US and Canadian football) * fourth down (US football) * second down (US and Canadian football) * third down (US and Canadian football) * top-down * upside down

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

  • Soft, fluffy immature feathers which grow on young birds. Used as insulating material in duvets, sleeping bags and jackets.
  • (botany) The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or envelope of the seeds of certain plants, such as the thistle.
  • The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear.
  • * Dryden
  • The first down begins to shade his face.
  • That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which affords ease and repose, like a bed of down.
  • * Tennyson
  • When in the down I sink my head, / Sleep, Death's twin brother, times my breath.
  • * Southern
  • Thou bosom softness, down of all my cares!

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down.
  • (Young)