GROUNDWORK

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does groundwork mean? 

• GROUNDWORK (noun)
  The noun GROUNDWORK has 3 senses:

1. the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained

2. lowest support of a structure

3. preliminary preparation as a basis or foundation

  Familiarity information: GROUNDWORK used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GROUNDWORK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

base; basis; cornerstone; foundation; fundament; groundwork

Context example:

the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture

Hypernyms ("groundwork" is a kind of...):

assumption; supposal; supposition (a hypothesis that is taken for granted)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "groundwork"):

meat and potatoes (the fundamental part)

Holonyms ("groundwork" is a part of...):

explanation (thought that makes something comprehensible)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lowest support of a structure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

base; foot; foundation; fundament; groundwork; substructure; understructure

Context example:

he stood at the foot of the tower

Hypernyms ("groundwork" is a kind of...):

support (supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "groundwork"):

bed (a foundation of earth or rock supporting a road or railroad track)

mat; raft; raft foundation (a foundation (usually on soft ground) consisting of an extended layer of reinforced concrete)

Holonyms ("groundwork" is a part of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Preliminary preparation as a basis or foundation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

we are prepared today because of groundwork that was done ten years ago

Hypernyms ("groundwork" is a kind of...):

preparation; readying (the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose)

 Context examples 

This discovery at the chemistry-biology interface is a first step toward developing new sustainable materials and practices and providing the groundwork for possible remediation approaches.

(Nanoparticles may have bigger impact on the environment than previously thought, National Science Foundation)

This project has provided the groundwork for the application of these compounds to rare skeletal pathologies.

(Scientists identify bioactive compounds in cacao pods to develop drugs to combat skeletal disorders, University of Granada)

How much more must an imaginist, like herself, be on fire with speculation and foresight!—especially with such a groundwork of anticipation as her mind had already made.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The impossibility of not doing everything in the world to make Fanny Price happy, or of ceasing to love Fanny Price, was of course the groundwork of his eloquent answer.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

These observations could lay groundwork for future exoplanet exploration with Webb, including which worlds could support life.

(NASA’s Webb Telescope to Investigate Mysterious Brown Dwarfs, NASA)

Humility, Jane, said he, is the groundwork of Christian virtues: you say right that you are not fit for the work.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The study provides the groundwork for future analysis of structural and functional brain changes in ADHD, which the researchers hope will provide new insights into how symptoms of the disorder relate to differences in the brain.

(Atypical brain development observed in preschoolers with ADHD symptoms, National Institutes of Health)

She went on: From the very beginning—from the first moment, I may almost say—of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of my character that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship: I have never believed it to be necessary, and when I heard of a mariner equally noted for his kindliness of heart and the respect and obedience paid to him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly fortunate in being able to secure his services.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)