grounder
(ˈgraʊndə(r))
Also 5 grownder, gronddar.
[f. ground v. + -er1. Cf. MDu. grondere (Du. gronder), G. gründer, MSw. and Sw. grundare.]
1. One who, or that which, founds, establishes, causes, etc.
| 14.. Ave Reg. Celorum in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 146 Heyle, gudly grownder of all grace! c 1449 Pecock Repr. 79 Holi Scripture may not be ther of the Reuler bi cause He is not therof the Grounder. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 326 Ȝe worthy word, ȝe be gronddar of gladnesse. c 1530 L. Cox Rhet. (1899) 53 Fayned fables of poetes (and fleyng tales of lyght fokes) ar, for the more parte, the grounders of fame and rumours. 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus iii. 305 Grounder of euill, and na vertew hir neir. |
2. One who does the grounding in the manufacture of wall-paper, or in other arts of design.
| 1878 Macleod Hist. Dumbarton iii. 79 The merchants had the ordinary trade of the town supplemented..by the Leven printers and grounders. |
3. colloq. a. A catching the ground (in angling). b. A knock-down blow. c. In cricket and other games: A ball sent along the ground (Barrère & Leland).
| 1847 Albert Smith in Illustr. News 12 July 374 The fish that I have caught I will not name Nor yet confess my bites have all been grounders. 1849 Boy's Own Bk. 69 Grounders and home tosses. 1862 J. Pycroft Cricket Tutor 8 The old bat used to be heavy at the point—very requisite for picking up a Grounder. 1867 H. Chadwick Base Ball Player's Bk. Reference 137 A grounder, a ball hit along the ground, either on a line or on a series of bounds. 1889 Westgarth Austral. Progress 171 Lifting him up, and giving him a heavy grounder on his back. 1927 Daily Express 27 May 13/7 Brown opened the scoring, receiving a fine pass from Dean and sending in a beautiful grounder from eighteen yards. 1932 J. T. Farrell Studs Lonigan (1936) viii. 617 Studs watched the infield practice, the grounders slapped hard, cutting over the dirt, the ball snapped around from player to player. 1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. D1/7 A fielder's-choice grounder by Dave Nelson knocked in Mike Epstein. |