groundwork

American  

[ground-wurk] / ˈgraʊndˌwɜrk /

noun

1. foundation or basis.

   He laid the groundwork for an international conference.

---

groundwork British  

/ ˈɡraʊndˌwɜːk /

noun

1. preliminary work as a foundation or basis

2. 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

First recorded in 1540–50; ground ¹ + work

Example Sentences

Experiments like these laid the groundwork for thermodynamics in the 19th century.

From Science Daily

Away from public view, Lukashenko had been laying the groundwork to bring his country closer to America, using prisoners.

From The Wall Street Journal

The groundwork was laid for young creatives to forge a bold, distinctly Zambian musical identity.

From BBC

Now that the groundwork has been done, the dataset can also be used to train computer models to predict which suspected enhancers are real gene switches, potentially saving years of lab work.

From Science Daily

"The groundwork that started in the city of Providence... led us to that connection," Perez said, without offering further details, with an upcoming press conference set in Boston.

From Barron's

Related Words

• preparation