n. (art) the surface (as a wall or canvas) prepared to take the paint for a painting

n. a relatively homogeneous percept extending back of the figure on which attention is focused

n. a rational motive for a belief or action; "the reason that war was declared"; "the grounds for their declaration"

n. the loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface; "they dug into the earth outside the church"

n. material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use); "the land had never been plowed"; "good agricultural soil"

n. a relation that provides the foundation for something; "they were on a friendly footing"; "he worked on an interim basis"

n. the first or preliminary coat of paint or size applied to a surface

n. the solid part of the earth's surface; "the plane turned away from the sea and moved back over land"; "the earth shook for several minutes"; "he dropped the logs on the ground"

v. instruct someone in the fundamentals of a subject

v. connect to a ground; "ground the electrical connections for safety reasons"

v. use as a basis for; found on; "base a claim on some observation"

v. fix firmly and stably; "anchor the lamppost in concrete"

v. cover with a primer; apply a primer to

v. place or put on the ground

v. confine or restrict to the ground; "After the accident, they grounded the plane and the pilot"

v. hit or reach the ground

v. bring to the ground; "the storm grounded the ship"

adj. treated so as to have a permanently wrinkled appearance; "crushed velvet"

n. the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior; "we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives"

n. your basis for belief or disbelief; knowledge on which to base belief; "the evidence that smoking causes lung cancer is very compelling"

n. a large and unbroken expanse or distance; "a stretch of highway"; "a stretch of clear water"

n. the lowest part of anything; "they started at the bottom of the hill"

n. the central part of the earth

n. an area that is approximately central within some larger region; "it is in the center of town"; "they ran forward into the heart of the struggle"; "they were in the eye of the storm"

n. the place where something begins, where it springs into being; "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism's Russian root"

n. supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation; "the statue stood on a marble support"

n. a statement in explanation of some action or belief

n. the act of making something different (as e.g. the size of a garment)

n. a document giving an official instruction or command

n. a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.; "he kept finding excuses to stay"; "every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job"; "his transparent self-justification was unacceptable"

n. formal and explicit approval; "a Democrat usually gets the union's endorsement"

n. a written assurance that some product or service will be provided or will meet certain specifications

n. a large and unbroken expanse or distance; "a stretch of highway"; "a stretch of clear water"

n. a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography); "it was a mountainous area"; "Bible country"

n. a large indefinite location on the surface of the Earth; "penguins inhabit the polar regions"

n. a region marked off for administrative or other purposes

n. (astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction

n. any spherically shaped artifact

n. the apparent surface of the imaginary sphere on which celestial bodies appear to be projected

v. land on a beach; "the ship beached near the port"

v. place restrictions on; "curtail drinking in school"

v. place limits on (extent or access); "restrict the use of this parking lot"; "limit the time you can spend with your friends"

v. make more specific; "qualify these remarks"

v. land on a beach; "the ship beached near the port"

v. leave stranded on a desert island without resources; "The mutinous sailors were marooned on an island"

adj. out of working order (`busted' is an informal substitute for `broken'); "a broken washing machine"; "the coke machine is broken"; "the coke machine is busted"

adj. having a small piece broken off: "a chipped tooth"

adj. of paint or varnish; having the appearance of alligator hide

adj. having been divided; having the unity destroyed; "Congress...gave the impression of...a confusing sum of disconnected local forces"-Samuel Lubell; "a league of disunited nations"- E.B.White; "a fragmented coalition"; "a split group"

adj. (of solid matter) reduced to a liquid form; "add the dissolved gelatin"

adj. used of a break in esp. bone: "a broken neck"; "fractured skull"

adj. (especially of wood) cut or ripped longitudinally with the grain; "we bought split logs for the fireplace"

adj. (especially of promises or contracts) having been violated or disregarded; "broken (or unkept) promises"; "broken contracts"

n. a unitary percept having structure and coherence that is the object of attention and that stands out against a ground

n. the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth

n. structure consisting of the part of a ship above the main deck

v. remove or force out from a position; "The dentist dislodged the piece of food that had been stuck under my gums"; "He finally could free the legs of the earthquake victim who was buried in the rubble"