Groundwork
['graʊn(d)wɜːk] or ['graʊnd'wɝk]
Definition
(noun.) preliminary preparation as a basis or foundation; 'we are prepared today because of groundwork that was done ten years ago'.
Editor: Wallace--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) That which forms the foundation or support of anything; the basis; the essential or fundamental part; first principle.
Editor: Thea
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Base, basis, substratum, foundation, support, bottom, ground.[2]. Source, origin, first principle.
Inputed by Boris
Examples
- No slight to your looks, reddleman, for ye bain't bad-looking in the groundwork, though the finish is queer. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- He has described what political science must be like, and anyone who has absorbed his insight has an intellectual groundwork for political observation. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- I have in my hands a text-book of six hundred pages which is used in the largest universities as a groundwork of political economy. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The groundwork of the face was hopefulness; but over it now I ay like a foreign substance a film of anxiety and grief. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- We have to deal with all grades of life from the frontier to the metropolis, with men who differ in sense of fact, in ideal, in the very groundwork of morals. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Humility, Jane, said he, is the groundwork of Christian virtues: you say right that you are not fit for the work. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- But the groundwork is gin. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
Inputed by Leila