▪ I. grounded, ppl. a.1
(ˈgraʊndɪd)
[f. ground v. or n. + -ed1 or -ed2.]
1. a. Deeply or strongly founded; firmly fixed or established; resting upon a good basis. Chiefly fig. of immaterial things.
| 1548 Gest Pr. Masse in H. G. Dugdale Life (1840) App. i. 98 It is a grounded proufe of falshode. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius A iij, A stable and grounded wysedome. 1605 Lond. Prodigal v. i, To shake my grounded resolution. 1612 Bacon Ess., Empire (Arb.) 298 Solide and grounded courses to keep them [dangers] aloofe. 1653 R. Sanders Physiogn. b iij, So have I fortified this building with grounded pillars. 1783 Burke Affairs India Wks. 1842 II. 9 A grounded apprehension of the ill effect..of all strong marks of influence and favour. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. I. x. 203 A grounded knowledge of the German language and literature. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 5 The temperament which mistakes..violent phrase for grounded conviction. |
b. with advs.; esp. well-grounded, ill-grounded.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iv. 1 Friendship..Without regard of good, dyes like ill grounded seeds. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 92 The King caused a..large and deepe grounded Causey be built. 1648 Gage West Ind. xx. 160 A good and well grounded knowledge of the tongues. 1662 Gerbier Princ. 14 Leaving to their Posterity to prop and redresse their ill grounded Buildings. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 202 Had our counsels been..ready and well grounded. 1777 Watson Philip II (1793) II. xiii. 175 A well grounded apprehension. |
† 2. Of persons: Thoroughly instructed or proficient in some study; also, deeply imbued with certain principles. Obs.
| 1613 T. Jackson Creed i. 315 Questions..which would require a grounded scholers serious paines & long search. 1619 R. Harris Drunkard's Cup 26 A very iudicious Diuine, and grounded Text-man. 1666 E. Mountagu in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 8 If the young Lord was a strict and a grounded Papist there was some danger my Lady Dorothy might bee perverted. 1807 A. Seward in Athenæum 2 Mar. (1895) 282/1 Mr. Day, who was a grounded Greek scholar. |
3. Of lace: Having the intervals of the pattern filled in with plain stitches. ? Obs.
| 1695 Lond. Gaz. No. 3101/4 A grounded Lace Nightrail. 1720 Ibid. No. 5881/3 A fine Valencia grounded laced Suit of Night Clothes. 1740 C'tess of Hertford Lett. I. lii. 226 Four fine laced Brussels heads—two looped and two grounded. |
4. Having a ground of a specified colour.
| 1761 Public Advertiser 1 Jan., Dressed in a yellow grounded velvet. 1765 Treat. Dom. Pigeons 57 You may breed twenty light grounded ones for one deep ground. 1813 Examiner 12 Apr. 239/1 A red grounded frock..was..found. 1865 Mrs. Whitney Gayworthys II. iii. 54 A simple white grounded lawn. |
5. Having the ground applied or prepared.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 921 Spreading the piece [of wall-paper] upon the table with the grounded side uppermost. |
6. a. Placed on, or brought into contact with, the ground. b. Forced aground, stranded.
| 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 308 To pitch the ball into the grounded hat, Or drive it devious with a dext'rous pat. 1862 Dana Man. Geol. v. 542 Stones in..the under surface of a grounded [ice]berg. 1888 Amer. Nat. XXII. 230 As the grounded floebergs are forced up the shelving sea-bottoms [etc.]. |
7. Electr. Electrically connected with the ground, either directly or through another conductor; earthed. Chiefly U.S.
| 1889 Daily News 8 Nov. 5/8 An alternating current..from a partially grounded wire. 1913 Wireless World I. 99/2 Grounded conductors, such as gas, steam, and water pipes. 1938 L. F. Blume Transformer Engin. vii. 198 Grounded neutral power systems generally connect to ground through the neutral of a step-up delta-Y bank, located at the generating station. 1949 Electronics Aug. 120/2 The grounded-emitter arrangement [of a transistor circuit]..is analogous to a grounded-cathode tube circuit. 1971 Sci. Amer. Aug. 107/1 The charging current is measured with a microammeter in series with the grounded side of the coil. |
8. Of an aeroplane, pilot, etc.: unable, or not allowed, to fly. Also transf. of sportsmen, etc., suspended, disqualified.
| 1939 in Amer. Speech (1955) XXX. 286 When a jockey is suspended or disqualified, he is said to be ‘grounded’. 1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path ii. ii. 140 And on my confidential report they'd put—grounded. Lack of moral fibre. 1942 Amer. Speech XVII. 103/2 Grounded, license revoked [of a truck-driver]. 1954 in Amer. Speech (1955) XXX. 286 ‘We're all grounded.’ It took only another question or two to discover that for these youths ‘grounded’ meant not having the use of the family car. 1967 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 10 Sept. 45/4 Grounded, stranded for lack of petrol. Borrowed from the R.A.F. |
▸ orig. U.S. Of a child: confined to his or her home outside school hours as a punishment.
| 1950 H. G. Felsen Hot Rod vi. 95 It didn't matter about his being grounded. 1985 New Yorker 6 May 47/3 Can I go out? Am I still grounded? 1995 J. Miller Voxpop i. 13, I can't go out any more. I'm grounded, since I came in at 5 o'clock in the morning. |
▸ Of a person: having his or her feet on the ground; realistic, sensible, well-balanced.
| 1976A. Ginsberg in New Age Jrnl. Apr. 25/3 Trungpa's position is that ‘psychedelics’ are too trippy, whereas people need to be grounded; everything is uncertain enough as it is. 1987 Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 25 Oct. Henry's heralded dismissal of Lee Iacocca from Ford stands as the triumph of a grounded, centered man who knew his talents and limitations. 1990 New Age Sept.–Oct. 112/2, I would say..that the best tuning comes from a grounded man, but it's still better to have an ungrounded father than nothing at all. 1995 Vogue Dec. 139/1 As a model, I see myself as a product... It helps me stay grounded. 2001 Observer 26 Aug. (Life Suppl.) 40/2 These should include a subtle increase in feelings of being grounded and level-headed, not being thrown off balance by events around you. |
▪ II. † ˈgrounded, ppl. a.2 Obs.
[Incorrect var. of grounden ppl. a.]
= grounden, ground.
| 1566 Drant Horace's Sat. i. A 1 b, The maces keene, the grounded sworde, the Tucke, the targe, the sheilde. 1698 A. van Leeuwenhoek in Phil. Trans. XX. 171 Two or more grounded Glasses. |