Noun

(en noun)

An object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington

, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}

A result that is desired; an intention.

The act of intending to do something; resolution; determination.

* 2013 , Phil McNulty, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23830980]", BBC Sport , 1 September 2013:

United began with more purpose in the early phase of the second half and Liverpool were grateful for Glen Johnson's crucial block from Young's goalbound shot.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Sarah Glaz

, title= Ode to Prime Numbers , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.}}

The subject of discourse; the point at issue.

(Spenser)

The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.

The purpose of turning off the lights overnight is to save energy.

(obsolete) Instance; example.

(rfquotek, L'Estrange)

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)