I.verbCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a cricket field/ground/pitch (=area of ground where cricket is played)
▪ the school cricket field
a football ground/stadium (=a place where football is played)
▪ Hundreds of fans were making their way towards the football ground.
a grinding halt (=one that happens slowly – used for emphasis)
▪ One accident can bring the whole road system to a grinding halt.
a sports field/ground
▪ The village has its own sports field.
abject/grinding/dire poverty (=extremely severe)
▪ He was shocked by the abject poverty that he saw.
below ground
▪ an animal that lives below ground
breeding ground
▪ Overcrowded slums are breeding grounds for crime.
bump 'n' grind
consecrated ground
▪ The bones will be reburied in consecrated ground.
cover...ground (=include so many things)
▪ We need more time to cover so much ground.
cover...ground
▪ A leopard can cover a lot of ground very quickly.
crunch/grind the gears (=change gear in a way that makes an unpleasant noise)
▪ He crunched the gears into reverse.
Drive...stakes into the ground
▪ Drive two stakes into the ground about three feet apart.
dumping ground
▪ Rivers have always been a dumping ground for man’s unwanted waste.
feeding ground
grind your teeth (also gnash your teethliterary) (= move them against each other because you are angry)
▪ Kate ground her teeth in helpless rage.
Grind...into a powder
▪ Grind the sugar into a powder.
ground bait
ground beef
ground cloth
ground control
ground crew
ground floor
▪ a ground floor flat
ground forces
ground frost (=frost that forms only on the ground)
▪ Scotland should have a dry night, with a touch of ground frost in northern glens.
ground glass
ground level
▪ The flats are set around a courtyard with shops at ground level.
ground plan
▪ documents which formed the ground plan for the welfare state
ground rentBritish English (= rent paid to the owner of the land that a house, office etc is built on)
▪ There is an additional ground rent of £30 per month.
ground rent
ground rules
▪ Our book lays down the ground rules for building a patio successfully.
ground squirrel
ground staff
ground stroke
ground troops
▪ The advancing ground troops were provided with substantial air support.
ground warfare (=fighting on the ground, rather than in the air or on the sea)
▪ Ground warfare took a heavy toll in casualties.
ground zero
▪ Buildings within 25 km of ground zero would be flattened.
hallowed ground
▪ The bones will be buried in hallowed ground.
hill/sea/ground fog
▪ Rain was forecast, along with hill fog.
hunting ground
▪ Madeira used to be a happy hunting ground for antique collectors.
knocked...to the ground
▪ He knocked her to the ground and kicked her.
lay down/establish ground rules for sth
▪ Our book lays down the ground rules for building a patio successfully.
middle ground
▪ The negotiators could find no middle ground.
moral high ground
▪ Neither side in this conflict can claim the moral high ground.
parade ground
proving ground
▪ High-crime areas are proving grounds for new police officers.
razed to the ground
▪ In 1162 Milan was razed to the ground by imperial troops.
recreation ground
recreation ground/area/room
▪ a recreation area for children to play in
rocky ground
▪ They hurried over the rough rocky ground.
shift...ground (=change his opinion)
▪ He refused to shift his ground.
solid ground
▪ It was good to be back on solid ground again.
stamping ground
sth grinds to a halt (=something stops very slowly – used for emphasis)
▪ Just ahead, he could see traffic grinding to a halt.
stomping ground
suit sb down to the groundinformal (= suit someone very well)
▪ Country life suits you down to the ground.
testing ground
▪ Eastern Europe has become a testing ground for high-speed privatization.
the ground crew (=the people who prepare an airplane to fly)
▪ The ground crew were refueling the plane.
threw...to the ground
▪ The guards threw Biko to the ground and started kicking him.
waste ground
▪ a piece of waste ground
waterlogged ground/soil
▪ Heavy rain meant the pitch was waterlogged.
well-trodden path/road/ground etc
▪ Andrew was on his well-trodden path to conquering another willing lady.
wrestled...to the ground
▪ Police officers wrestled him to the ground.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
above
▪ Secondly, the royal corpse was mangled; it had been in the hands of embalmers and above ground for four years.
away
▪ I fitted the brackets in their pairs to the top rails, grinding away the point on a plate sander.
below
▪ You were below ground when it happened.
▪ I had to go below ground to an office where I spoke to a policeman.
▪ Far below ground in the anticline were the Millstone Grits and even deeper were the Carboniferous Limestones.
▪ The water rises, the heat is transferred to heat exchangers and the water then returns below ground to be reheated.
down
▪ One of the colliding plates crumples upwards and then grinds down, sliding beneath the onrush of the other.
▪ The screams were ground down by the second strike.
▪ Flake or pellets can be ground down fine enough even for a dwarf cichlids using a coffee grinder.
▪ She laughed, squirmed free, grinding down on him smugly.
▪ Grandad has responded by playing for time, hoping that Mr Putin will be ground down by office.
▪ After being ground down by a rude customer and an unsympathetic boss, they might give shoddy service to good customers.
▪ Provided you were not ground down by illness or poverty.
▪ This is known as ground down by the system.
finely
▪ In the early days ordinary mill-stones were used as the clinker was soft and the cement need not be finely ground.
▪ Pimientos become paprika when dried and finely ground.
▪ As production methods improved the clinker produced was harder and the cement had to be more finely ground.
▪ The finely ground nuts got lost in the batter.
▪ Scattering may be a problem unless the sample is very finely ground.
freshly
▪ Add the mascarpone Reheat, adding the mascarpone and correcting the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
▪ Drizzle with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
▪ The coffee proved to be filtered and freshly ground, something he had not expected.
▪ Place freshly ground coffee in cereal bowls inside the refrigerator for several days.
▪ Add the fresh thyme, stirring to combine, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
home
▪ Stick to jazz, home ground.
▪ She has picked home ground and imposed the tutorial format on him.
on
▪ Meanwhile, a war that has cost at least 500,000 lives grinds on, reducing average life expectancy to just 42 years.
▪ Well, grinds on, actually.
▪ Events therefore ground on with what appeared to be a tragic inevitability.
▪ Committee meetings ground on, with no results.
out
▪ Coolly Adam ground out his cigarette on the hearth.
▪ Geological features ground out by ancient glaciers are seen overlaid by the scars of recent wind erosion.
▪ He ground out the cigarette and watched her, the burning need in him too fierce to ignore.
▪ One day the assembly line is grinding out station wagons or Styrofoam, the next day jeeps or Plexiglas.
▪ For the next five years, until his death in 1953, he ground out anodyne pieces.
▪ He ground out his cigarette and glared at Litchfield.
slowly
▪ Instead of finding sudden problems you might find that progress slowly grinds to a halt.
▪ The tiny pens, scrawling in palsied traces on endless white ribbons of paper, slowly ground to a halt.
▪ Traditionally, grain was ground slowly between huge stones.
▪ Larry moved her to Beaumont, Texas, where his jealousy and possessive ways slowly ground her down.
▪ I radioed for clearance and ground slowly down the runway.
▪ The co-op went bankrupt during the Great Depression, said Gross, and maintenance slowly ground to a halt.
up
▪ This alarm sounds like a gigantic pencil-sharpener grinding up something awful.
▪ But when they're to be ground up for fish meal it makes no difference.
▪ The truck was grinding up the steep, dark road while I looked up to the stars in the clear alpine air.
▪ The camera plane was grinding up in a labouring climb, turning to present the smallest target.
▪ There, the rubber will be ground up and used to make asphalt, drip-irrigation pipes and other commodities, he said.
▪ Over the winter the distinctive bare earth is ground up and massed into sharp ruts by tractor tyres.
■ NOUN
cigarette
▪ He ground his cigarette underfoot and walked slowly towards the Fiat.
▪ He grinds the cigarette into the gravel with his heel and puts his other hand on the handlebar.
▪ Coolly Adam ground out his cigarette on the hearth.
▪ He ground out his cigarette and glared at Litchfield.
▪ He ground out the cigarette and watched her, the burning need in him too fierce to ignore.
flour
▪ Simply grinding your own flour will not guarantee good bread if you have chosen the wrong type of wheat.
gear
▪ A truck, far off, grinds gears and whines, coming slowly closer.
▪ On Capitol Hill, the Republican revolution seems to be grinding its gears.
halt
▪ But low hydrogen yields and poisoned catalysts soon had these systems grinding to a halt.
▪ It seemed as though things had ground to a halt in there.
▪ Treasury yield drops However, the rally in U. S. Treasuries ground to a halt.
▪ The tiny pens, scrawling in palsied traces on endless white ribbons of paper, slowly ground to a halt.
▪ When the Meuse river flooded in 1995, the factory ground to a halt.
▪ He is extremely serious, speaks slowly-almost grinding to a complete halt at times-and is not exactly the happy optimist.
▪ The incident occurred on lap 50, by which time Mansell had already ground to a halt with no gears.
▪ The co-op went bankrupt during the Great Depression, said Gross, and maintenance slowly ground to a halt.
pepper
▪ Add the mascarpone Reheat, adding the mascarpone and correcting the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
▪ Add coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.
powder
▪ But I can tell you that it contains plants' leaves and roots ground into powder.
▪ The seeds are often ground and the resulting powder is a basic ingredient of curry spice mix.
▪ In the brewery the malt is ground into a coarse powder called grist.
tooth
▪ With a start he realized they were his teeth and he was grinding them.
■ VERB
cover
▪ Airy, instantly accessible but surprisingly subtle music covering ground between modem mainstream and bebop and featuring Barnes alongside trumpeter Adams.
▪ It covers much more ground than mooching.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a happy/good hunting ground (for sth)
▪ I pass up a roadside rest area, a happy hunting ground for new cars and ready cash.
▪ In the early years of this century, many a collector found Madeira a happy hunting ground.
▪ Scandinavia was a happy hunting ground for him and he did the same for Nicolai Gedda.
be thick on the ground
▪ If the security forces are thick on the ground and loyalist gunmen commit murder it is the result of collusion.
▪ It searches for heroes in the knowledge that villains are thick on the ground.
▪ They were thickest on the ground in Norfolk and the clothing places of Suffolk.
be thin on the ground
▪ Magazines about home improvement were very thin on the ground at the time - not like now.
▪ Our only problem is finding staff, because good programmers are really thin on the ground.
▪ By the mid-1970s, managers and executives in the late 30s to late 40s age group were thin on the ground.
▪ Even now, as in the beginning, women are thin on the ground in the service.
▪ Hard evidence is thin on the ground, and what there is, is not encouraging.
▪ Major launches were thin on the ground.
▪ New textbooks on nuclear and particle physics are thin on the ground.
▪ Not surprisingly, business news was thin on the ground.
▪ Systems integrators and resellers are thin on the ground, and there is little home-grown technology.
▪ The cabs were thinner on the ground now, so I kept a couple of cars between us.
be/get in on the ground floor
breeding/fertile/proving ground
▪ His inspiration fell on fertile ground, prepared by endless repetition.
▪ On their arrival at the breeding grounds, male pied flycatchers find a suitable nesting site.
▪ The position required no athletic ability, but traditionally has served as a proving ground for Mississippi politicians.
▪ The race, the breeding ground, might be missed, both in sporting and traditional terms, should it cease.
▪ The unhygienic conditions of a stable were a breeding ground for all manner of disease and bacteria hazardous to a newborn.
▪ There are 22 events per year, and tracks range from Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground tote Mans.
▪ Where scum settles on wetted surfaces in kitchens, it creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria.
burn/raze sth to the ground
▪ The city continued to thrive until a massive earthquake razed it to the ground in 749AD.
▪ They then torched the building, burning it to the ground.
common ground
▪ Democrats and Republicans did find some common ground in the debates about privacy.
dangerous ground/territory
▪ You're on dangerous ground when you talk politics with Ed.
▪ Discussion had ventured into dangerous territory.
▪ Here we are on dangerous ground, though.
▪ I release my safety belt to hold you, dangerous ground, ground where my feet have wings of flame.
▪ It is a scouting reconnaissance into un-known and potentially dangerous territory.
▪ Mr. Lawson moves on to what I regard as even more dangerous territory.
▪ Probably because for Marc it was dangerous ground.
▪ Second, that any official who ignores them is on dangerous ground.
▪ They must also enter the dangerous ground of anticipating the techniques which might be available in the future.
fall on stony ground
▪ Alan's charming smile fell on stony ground with her.
▪ Joseph's words fell on stony ground.
▪ Some initiatives have already fallen on stony ground, but, as we see in subsequent features, others keep coming.
▪ Their marriages had fallen on stony ground but it seemed to me there was still hope.
freshly ground/picked/made etc
▪ A garland of freshly picked marigolds hung from the mirror.
▪ A good addition to dried apricot fool is a spoonful or two of freshly ground almonds.
▪ Add the mascarpone Reheat, adding the mascarpone and correcting the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
▪ Drizzle with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
▪ Season generously with freshly ground pepper and add salt to taste.
▪ Squeeze over some lemon juice and add freshly ground pepper.
▪ Sure enough, inside we found some beautiful zucchini and tomatoes, freshly picked from a nearby garden.
▪ There were dates and a delicious bowl of freshly made cottage cheese.
gain ground
▪ Dole feels that Forbes is gaining ground.
▪ For once, the index gained ground despite a decline in shares of Vodafone, the market's biggest stock.
▪ He was gaining ground on all of them, he had the beating of them yet.
▪ Martin also gained ground on Gordon, finishing sixth and moving within 87 points.
▪ Nationalism has gained ground to the extent that it has begun to claim mainstream status.
▪ The fierce campaign by several anti-Maastricht movements has been gaining ground.
▪ The trend gained ground in the United States, where early symphony audiences ached to exude social refinement.
get off the ground
▪ Construction of the theme park never got off the ground.
▪ And the guerrilla strategy for influencing senior partners never got off the ground.
▪ But it has taken the project some time to get off the ground.
▪ He's been trying to get off the ground since the mid-60s.
▪ He laughed, because I was still to get off the ground.
▪ High-definition television, still getting off the ground, is sharper but still too poor for text.
▪ It never got off the ground.
▪ One Tucson businessman announced that he was organizing such an effort in early 1995, but it never got off the ground.
▪ The group was slow to get off the ground, despite an encouraging article about the group in the Rotherham Advertiser.
go to ground
▪ After flying into a military airport in a private jet, he went to ground.
▪ Also they are very severe on the second man going to ground.
▪ I'd gone to ground so the culprit could not have known of my presence.
▪ Let any crook try to find me, I said to myself, when I go to ground in Uulaa-la.
▪ The dead man's brother has gone to ground.
have an axe to grind
have/keep both feet on the ground
▪ She's really creative, but she also has her feet firmly on the ground.
▪ So I guess inversely he taught me the need to be prepared and keep both feet on the ground.
high ground
▪ He led her from the scene of horror to a patch of rocky high ground that seemed safe.
▪ On approaching the high ground before the Alps themselves we all encountered thick cloud, despite the season, and icing.
▪ Some corporations have seized the moral high ground.
▪ Television is therefore seen to be taking the moral high ground, the side of the punter against the forces of evil.
▪ The flak was heavy, relentless as hounds chasing a cornered stag up and down high ground.
▪ The way things were going the enemy seemed very determined to push the Brigade off this high ground.
▪ They had time to save furniture and valuables before fleeing to high ground early Saturday morning.
▪ They were taking the high ground.
hold/stand your ground
▪ As his father approached, Richard retreated steadily, never once daring to stand his ground against him.
▪ I calculate, I stand my ground.
▪ Not enough to start a war; just enough to let me stand my ground without having to think about it first.
▪ Richmann stood his ground, certain he would be able to jump out of the. way if things went wrong.
▪ The guide, however, stood his ground, frantically giving me unrecognizable signs.
▪ The Housing Executive stood its ground and refused to transfer money earmarked for other projects.
▪ Williams' job was to hold his ground or drop into pass coverage.
▪ You know when to stand your ground and when to give in.
keep your/an ear to the ground
▪ I haven't heard any more news, but I'll keep my ear to the ground.
lose ground
▪ American students lost ground in achievement levels in math and science between the 1970s and 1980s.
▪ Elsewhere, Islamism remains an opposition force only, and, though still potent, is losing ground.
▪ Shares of major banks lost ground.
▪ The concern in 1970 was that women were losing ground in educational opportunities.
▪ The radicals have steadily lost ground to the moderates since then.
▪ Therefore, even in those first moments, he had lost ground, was starting to fall behind himself.
▪ Without Samson's monumental strength, the smiths seemed to lose ground.
▪ Woosnam lost ground with a 73 and admits that he is' not in the groove at all.
on neutral ground/territory
on solid ground
▪ Our main objective is to get the city's finances onto solid ground.
▪ I sat on solid ground, my back against a tree.
▪ Similarly, when Dole asserts that Clinton reduced the office of drug czar by 83 percent, he is on solid ground.
▪ We are on solid ground when we say that we will oppose this Bill.
on the ground
▪ But when you sleep on the ground a lot, you get to see all sorts of bugs.
▪ He sat cross-legged on the ground and stared into the black grid on the front of the radio. 2.25 p.m.
▪ Over five thousand dead and wounded men were on the ground, in every attitude of distress.
▪ People on the ground would be trying to blast us out of the air.
▪ Putting these things in place on the ground will be our job.
▪ That does not say much for the top chasers of the day, which are very thin on the ground.
▪ That marked the first time that solar neutrons were detected on the ground.
▪ The egg is infective on the ground in about two weeks at optimal temperatures.
run sb/sth to ground
▪ Badminton: Hall runs Baddeley to ground.
sb's stamping ground
▪ A party conference is a natural stamping ground for those who have barely four days in which to make a mark.
▪ It's my guess he is trying to reach his old stamping ground.
▪ Like Banquo's ghost her figure would be seen haunting her old stamping ground.
▪ This raises the question: where is the natural stamping ground for experienced lawyers with case management skills?
sb's stomping ground
stamping ground
▪ A party conference is a natural stamping ground for those who have barely four days in which to make a mark.
▪ But not your place, of course: we're a good four hundred light years from your usual stamping grounds.
▪ It's my guess he is trying to reach his old stamping ground.
▪ Like Banquo's ghost her figure would be seen haunting her old stamping ground.
▪ This raises the question: where is the natural stamping ground for experienced lawyers with case management skills?
take/claim/seize the moral high ground
▪ Some corporations have seized the moral high ground.
▪ Television is therefore seen to be taking the moral high ground, the side of the punter against the forces of evil.
work/drive/run yourself into the ground
▪ But don't drive yourself into the ground.
▪ I've already explained to you how I've worked myself into the ground setting up the interview.
▪ I tried working myself into the ground, but I could be totally exhausted and still remember.
▪ Mitchell and White ran themselves into the ground and Nicky Summerbee tried everything he could to get a goal.
▪ They ran themselves into the ground, ran Chesterfield off the pitch, but they couldn't get another goal.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Grind some black pepper over the salad.
▪ Could you grind up some coffee for me?
▪ These huge stones were once used for grinding wheat into flour.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A bit more than a year since his election, Netanyahu has succeeded in grinding the peace process to a halt.
▪ But low hydrogen yields and poisoned catalysts soon had these systems grinding to a halt.
▪ But when they're to be ground up for fish meal it makes no difference.
▪ Geological features ground out by ancient glaciers are seen overlaid by the scars of recent wind erosion.
▪ I ground my teeth as I watched her crawl back into the machinery.
▪ The seas powdering our bones like quartz, making sand, grinding our peace for us by the aeon.
II.nounPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a happy/good hunting ground (for sth)
▪ I pass up a roadside rest area, a happy hunting ground for new cars and ready cash.
▪ In the early years of this century, many a collector found Madeira a happy hunting ground.
▪ Scandinavia was a happy hunting ground for him and he did the same for Nicolai Gedda.
be thick on the ground
▪ If the security forces are thick on the ground and loyalist gunmen commit murder it is the result of collusion.
▪ It searches for heroes in the knowledge that villains are thick on the ground.
▪ They were thickest on the ground in Norfolk and the clothing places of Suffolk.
be thin on the ground
▪ Magazines about home improvement were very thin on the ground at the time - not like now.
▪ Our only problem is finding staff, because good programmers are really thin on the ground.
▪ By the mid-1970s, managers and executives in the late 30s to late 40s age group were thin on the ground.
▪ Even now, as in the beginning, women are thin on the ground in the service.
▪ Hard evidence is thin on the ground, and what there is, is not encouraging.
▪ Major launches were thin on the ground.
▪ New textbooks on nuclear and particle physics are thin on the ground.
▪ Not surprisingly, business news was thin on the ground.
▪ Systems integrators and resellers are thin on the ground, and there is little home-grown technology.
▪ The cabs were thinner on the ground now, so I kept a couple of cars between us.
be/get in on the ground floor
breeding/fertile/proving ground
▪ His inspiration fell on fertile ground, prepared by endless repetition.
▪ On their arrival at the breeding grounds, male pied flycatchers find a suitable nesting site.
▪ The position required no athletic ability, but traditionally has served as a proving ground for Mississippi politicians.
▪ The race, the breeding ground, might be missed, both in sporting and traditional terms, should it cease.
▪ The unhygienic conditions of a stable were a breeding ground for all manner of disease and bacteria hazardous to a newborn.
▪ There are 22 events per year, and tracks range from Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground tote Mans.
▪ Where scum settles on wetted surfaces in kitchens, it creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria.
burn/raze sth to the ground
▪ The city continued to thrive until a massive earthquake razed it to the ground in 749AD.
▪ They then torched the building, burning it to the ground.
common ground
▪ Democrats and Republicans did find some common ground in the debates about privacy.
cut the ground from under sb's feet
dangerous ground/territory
▪ You're on dangerous ground when you talk politics with Ed.
▪ Discussion had ventured into dangerous territory.
▪ Here we are on dangerous ground, though.
▪ I release my safety belt to hold you, dangerous ground, ground where my feet have wings of flame.
▪ It is a scouting reconnaissance into un-known and potentially dangerous territory.
▪ Mr. Lawson moves on to what I regard as even more dangerous territory.
▪ Probably because for Marc it was dangerous ground.
▪ Second, that any official who ignores them is on dangerous ground.
▪ They must also enter the dangerous ground of anticipating the techniques which might be available in the future.
fall on stony ground
▪ Alan's charming smile fell on stony ground with her.
▪ Joseph's words fell on stony ground.
▪ Some initiatives have already fallen on stony ground, but, as we see in subsequent features, others keep coming.
▪ Their marriages had fallen on stony ground but it seemed to me there was still hope.
fall on stony ground
▪ Alan's charming smile fell on stony ground with her.
▪ Joseph's words fell on stony ground.
▪ Some initiatives have already fallen on stony ground, but, as we see in subsequent features, others keep coming.
▪ Their marriages had fallen on stony ground but it seemed to me there was still hope.
freshly ground/picked/made etc
▪ A garland of freshly picked marigolds hung from the mirror.
▪ A good addition to dried apricot fool is a spoonful or two of freshly ground almonds.
▪ Add the mascarpone Reheat, adding the mascarpone and correcting the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
▪ Drizzle with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
▪ Season generously with freshly ground pepper and add salt to taste.
▪ Squeeze over some lemon juice and add freshly ground pepper.
▪ Sure enough, inside we found some beautiful zucchini and tomatoes, freshly picked from a nearby garden.
▪ There were dates and a delicious bowl of freshly made cottage cheese.
gain ground
▪ an approach which is gaining ground in schools
▪ Evangelical Christianity has been gaining ground since the Second World War.
▪ In the currency markets, the dollar gained ground in Japan and Europe.
▪ Laurent died in 1853, but his ideas slowly gained ground over the next ten years.
▪ Stock prices gained ground in late trading today.
▪ The idea that environmental issues are also religious issues is gaining ground among churches in the U.S.
▪ Dole feels that Forbes is gaining ground.
▪ For once, the index gained ground despite a decline in shares of Vodafone, the market's biggest stock.
▪ He was gaining ground on all of them, he had the beating of them yet.
▪ Martin also gained ground on Gordon, finishing sixth and moving within 87 points.
▪ Nationalism has gained ground to the extent that it has begun to claim mainstream status.
▪ The fierce campaign by several anti-Maastricht movements has been gaining ground.
▪ The trend gained ground in the United States, where early symphony audiences ached to exude social refinement.
gain ground
▪ Dole feels that Forbes is gaining ground.
▪ For once, the index gained ground despite a decline in shares of Vodafone, the market's biggest stock.
▪ He was gaining ground on all of them, he had the beating of them yet.
▪ Martin also gained ground on Gordon, finishing sixth and moving within 87 points.
▪ Nationalism has gained ground to the extent that it has begun to claim mainstream status.
▪ The fierce campaign by several anti-Maastricht movements has been gaining ground.
▪ The trend gained ground in the United States, where early symphony audiences ached to exude social refinement.
get off the ground
▪ Construction of the theme park never got off the ground.
▪ And the guerrilla strategy for influencing senior partners never got off the ground.
▪ But it has taken the project some time to get off the ground.
▪ He's been trying to get off the ground since the mid-60s.
▪ He laughed, because I was still to get off the ground.
▪ High-definition television, still getting off the ground, is sharper but still too poor for text.
▪ It never got off the ground.
▪ One Tucson businessman announced that he was organizing such an effort in early 1995, but it never got off the ground.
▪ The group was slow to get off the ground, despite an encouraging article about the group in the Rotherham Advertiser.
go to ground
▪ After flying into a military airport in a private jet, he went to ground.
▪ Also they are very severe on the second man going to ground.
▪ I'd gone to ground so the culprit could not have known of my presence.
▪ Let any crook try to find me, I said to myself, when I go to ground in Uulaa-la.
▪ The dead man's brother has gone to ground.
have an axe to grind
have/keep both feet on the ground
▪ She's really creative, but she also has her feet firmly on the ground.
▪ So I guess inversely he taught me the need to be prepared and keep both feet on the ground.
high ground
▪ He led her from the scene of horror to a patch of rocky high ground that seemed safe.
▪ On approaching the high ground before the Alps themselves we all encountered thick cloud, despite the season, and icing.
▪ Some corporations have seized the moral high ground.
▪ Television is therefore seen to be taking the moral high ground, the side of the punter against the forces of evil.
▪ The flak was heavy, relentless as hounds chasing a cornered stag up and down high ground.
▪ The way things were going the enemy seemed very determined to push the Brigade off this high ground.
▪ They had time to save furniture and valuables before fleeing to high ground early Saturday morning.
▪ They were taking the high ground.
hit the ground running
▪ If we can hit the ground running, we'll stay ahead of the competition.
▪ Graduates of law school hit the ground running, you see, as soon as they enter practice.
▪ He said his Navy experience prepared him to jump into new jobs in new places and hit the ground running.
▪ The company also could shape a well-educated, flexible pool of employment candidates who could hit the ground running.
▪ The pressures to perform were immense and their careers were on the line: They expect me to hit the ground running.
▪ They either hit the ground running, or the ground hits them standing still.
hold/stand your ground
▪ As his father approached, Richard retreated steadily, never once daring to stand his ground against him.
▪ I calculate, I stand my ground.
▪ Not enough to start a war; just enough to let me stand my ground without having to think about it first.
▪ Richmann stood his ground, certain he would be able to jump out of the. way if things went wrong.
▪ The guide, however, stood his ground, frantically giving me unrecognizable signs.
▪ The Housing Executive stood its ground and refused to transfer money earmarked for other projects.
▪ Williams' job was to hold his ground or drop into pass coverage.
▪ You know when to stand your ground and when to give in.
keep your/an ear to the ground
▪ I haven't heard any more news, but I'll keep my ear to the ground.
lose ground
▪ American students lost ground in achievement levels in math and science between the 1970s and 1980s.
▪ Elsewhere, Islamism remains an opposition force only, and, though still potent, is losing ground.
▪ Shares of major banks lost ground.
▪ The concern in 1970 was that women were losing ground in educational opportunities.
▪ The radicals have steadily lost ground to the moderates since then.
▪ Therefore, even in those first moments, he had lost ground, was starting to fall behind himself.
▪ Without Samson's monumental strength, the smiths seemed to lose ground.
▪ Woosnam lost ground with a 73 and admits that he is' not in the groove at all.
on neutral ground/territory
on solid ground
▪ Our main objective is to get the city's finances onto solid ground.
▪ I sat on solid ground, my back against a tree.
▪ Similarly, when Dole asserts that Clinton reduced the office of drug czar by 83 percent, he is on solid ground.
▪ We are on solid ground when we say that we will oppose this Bill.
on the ground
▪ But when you sleep on the ground a lot, you get to see all sorts of bugs.
▪ He sat cross-legged on the ground and stared into the black grid on the front of the radio. 2.25 p.m.
▪ Over five thousand dead and wounded men were on the ground, in every attitude of distress.
▪ People on the ground would be trying to blast us out of the air.
▪ Putting these things in place on the ground will be our job.
▪ That does not say much for the top chasers of the day, which are very thin on the ground.
▪ That marked the first time that solar neutrons were detected on the ground.
▪ The egg is infective on the ground in about two weeks at optimal temperatures.
prepare the way/ground for sb/sth
▪ A third preliminary task was to prepare the ground for the recruitment of support workers.
▪ Edelstone and other analysts expect this chip will prepare the way for the K6, due out next year.
▪ His staff could prepare the way for this.
▪ In other words, he is preparing the ground for a partition of the province.
▪ It prepared the way for the men who were to prepare the way for the Council.
▪ This helped prepare the ground for Labour's literacy and numeracy hours, which have achieved outstanding success.
▪ With hindsight, one can see how Mr Gorbachev has been preparing the ground for this week's changes.
▪ Yet the volume closes with three sonnets which prepare the way for the intensely symbolic landscapes of Mascarilla y trebol.
rooted to the spot/floor/ground etc
▪ Ashi found herself rooted to the spot in disbelief as she watched the threshing legs of her daughter.
▪ For a few moments he had felt rooted to the floor and had been unable to move.
▪ For a moment, she was rooted to the spot.
▪ He stands still, his feet rooted to the ground, his knees locked.
▪ He stood rooted to the spot.
▪ So startled was he by this sudden onslaught, Ryker momentarily froze, rooted to the spot.
▪ Unable to move, Philippa remained rooted to the spot.
run sb/sth to ground
▪ Badminton: Hall runs Baddeley to ground.
sb's stamping ground
▪ A party conference is a natural stamping ground for those who have barely four days in which to make a mark.
▪ It's my guess he is trying to reach his old stamping ground.
▪ Like Banquo's ghost her figure would be seen haunting her old stamping ground.
▪ This raises the question: where is the natural stamping ground for experienced lawyers with case management skills?
sb's stomping ground
stamping ground
▪ A party conference is a natural stamping ground for those who have barely four days in which to make a mark.
▪ But not your place, of course: we're a good four hundred light years from your usual stamping grounds.
▪ It's my guess he is trying to reach his old stamping ground.
▪ Like Banquo's ghost her figure would be seen haunting her old stamping ground.
▪ This raises the question: where is the natural stamping ground for experienced lawyers with case management skills?
take/claim/seize the moral high ground
▪ Some corporations have seized the moral high ground.
▪ Television is therefore seen to be taking the moral high ground, the side of the punter against the forces of evil.
work/drive/run yourself into the ground
▪ But don't drive yourself into the ground.
▪ I've already explained to you how I've worked myself into the ground setting up the interview.
▪ I tried working myself into the ground, but I could be totally exhausted and still remember.
▪ Mitchell and White ran themselves into the ground and Nicky Summerbee tried everything he could to get a goal.
▪ They ran themselves into the ground, ran Chesterfield off the pitch, but they couldn't get another goal.
worship the ground sb walks on
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The daily grind of meetings and tutorials went on.
▪ The Prime Minister is pictured taking a break from the hard grind of political life.
▪ The relentless grind of hard labour and ill-health had taken its toll on Booth.
▪ Work feels like such a grind lately.