groundwork
Americannoun
noun
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preliminary work as a foundation or basis
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the ground or background of a painting, etc
Usage
What is groundwork? Groundwork is a foundation or basis. Groundwork can describe an actual plot of land for a building or construct, but it can also be used figuratively to describe the beginnings of a negotiation or agreement. Example: I’m laying the groundwork for a new partnership right now.
Etymology
Origin of groundwork
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A year after the 1849 constitution, the state legislature created the groundwork of today’s “community property” law by defining anything acquired during marriage as “common property.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2026
“That lays the groundwork for tomorrow, when it could be stopping and boarding ships, redirecting them to clear customs on the mainland or turning them back for failing ‘inspection.’”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 24, 2026
Last week, Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding laying the groundwork for the negotiations, after a 40-day war that was followed by weeks of an inconclusive and oft-breached ceasefire.
From Barron's • Jun. 22, 2026
Instead, it has laid the groundwork for an even more insidious form of control.
From Salon • Jun. 21, 2026
The NSA had instructed him to patch up fraying relations with Britain’s intelligence community—and also to lay the groundwork for spying on America’s enemies, as well as some of its closest friends.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
