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

The signs sit at ground level or hang just overhead and flood the park with a cascade of soft and juicy light. —Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 1 Jan. 2025

But Daniels is doing something comparable down at ground level. —Jared Weiss, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024

But don't despair, because new growth can appear at ground level in the spring. —Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 14 Dec. 2024

Trees must be cut at ground level with a maximum height of 30 feet. —Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 28 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1787, in the meaning defined at sense 1