ground level

noun

plural ground levels

1

a

: the level of the ground taken as a reference point

From ground level, the arrayed fields of feed corn and soybeans look … like sprint tracks or Olympic pools, replete with the angles and alleys of serious tennis.

—David Foster Wallace

These survey flights were conducted at 300 feet above ground level. During the return flight to Schefferville, the aircraft descended and flew over terrain at an altitude varying between 100 and 40 feet above ground level.

—Targeted New Service

compare sea level

b

: the story (see story entry 3 sense 1a) of a building with its floor aligned to ground level : ground floor sense 1

It was a two-story house with white siding on the ground level …

—Neil Sheehan

2

: the state of a physical system (as of an atomic nucleus or an atom) having the least energy of all the possible states : ground state

Examples of ground level in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Both manmade and natural causes were factors in ground level changes. —Mark Joseph, Newsweek, 24 Feb. 2025

Accessibility required the introduction of a ground level entrance in 2000, but the solution had never felt quite right. —Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2025

Those are devices that remain hidden at ground level, then are activated by water pressure during a flood and lift automatically to a 90° angle, like a drawbridge, providing a temporary wall up to 8 feet high to protect homes and other property. —Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 20 Feb. 2025

Larger stations can be built at ground level, offering easy access for passengers. —Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 5 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1787, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ground level

• daredevil
• sublevel
• bevel
• devil
• mediaeval
• multilevel