subgrade

[ suhb-greyd ]

/ ˈsʌbˌgreɪd /

Civil Engineering, Building Trades.

noun

the prepared earth surface on which a pavement or the ballast of a railroad track is placed or upon which the foundation of a structure is built.

adjective

beneath the finished ground level of a project.

Nearby words

subgingival, subgingival curettage, subgingival space, subglacial, subglossal, subgrade, subgroup, subgrundation, subgum, subha, subhalide

Origin of subgrade

First recorded in 1895–1900; sub- + grade

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for subgrade

The pavement laid was bitulithic and the subgrade was an old macadam road built by the County.
Third Biennial Report of the Oregon State Highway Commission|S. Benson, W. L. Thompson, R. A. Booth, Herbert Nunn
When the work was finished, a subgrade reversed-grade drain carried the water to the shaft sump by gravity.
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910|B. H. M. Hewett
The side-walls and subgrade electric conduits were water-proofed with felt and pitch.
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910|B. H. M. Hewett
In each grade and subgrade date of commission, appointment, or warrant determines the order of precedence.
Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Cavalry of the Army|War Department.

Some engineers advocate that in preparing the subgrade, the earth be thoroughly rolled; others prefer not to roll the subgrade.
American Rural Highways|T. R. Agg

British Dictionary definitions for subgrade

subgrade

/ (ˈsʌbˌɡreɪd) /

noun

the ground beneath a roadway or pavement

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012