Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A plant or an animal that lives on or close to the ground.
- n. A bottom fish.
- n. A person with uncultivated tastes.
- n. A spectator in the cheap standing-room section of an Elizabethan theater.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. That which lives upon the ground; a terrestrial animal.—2. A fish which habitually remains at the bottom of the water. Specifically— The spiny loach, Cobitis tœnia. Also ground-bait, ground-gudgeon.
- n. The ring-plover, Ægialites hiaticula.
- n. Formerly, a spectator who stood in the pit of a theater, which was literally on the ground, having neither floor nor benches.
- n. Hence, allusively, one of the common herd; in the plural, the vulgar.
- Of a base or groveling nature.
Wiktionary
- n. any of various plants or animals living on or near the ground, as a benthic fish or bottom feeder
- n. by association, an individual of uncultivated or uncultured taste
- n. in Elizabethan theater: an audience member (usually standing) in the cheap section
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A fish that keeps at the bottom of the water, as the loach.
- n. A spectator in the pit of a theater, which formerly was on the ground, and without floor or benches.
WordNet 3.0
- n. in Elizabethan theater: a playgoer in the cheap standing section
Examples
“Yeah the pennywhistle is the worst kind of groundling humor.”
“The modern-day Globe is located on the south bank of the River Thames a stone's throw from where the original theater used to exist and is built to similar specifications with an open-air stage, standing room in front of the stage for inexpensive "groundling" tickets and a thatched roof over the galleries for those willing to pay more for a seat.”
“Also, a limited number of $1 standing or "groundling" tickets will be available at the door 30 minutes prior to each performance.”
“On the few occasions when I've seen a movie with the paying public, the experience struck me as a cross between being a groundling at Shakespeare's Globe and being Faye Dunaway at the end of "Bonnie and Clyde.”
“I warmed up my voice shouting in the street before they opened El Museo del Barrio to those of us who had political connections or groundling tickets like me.”
“Having read the book, I know that it's a lot of fun perhaps a bit too bawdy for some, but in a past life I was a groundling.”
“But this attack is the work of a groundling who does not understand the turns and counter stands of romantic love.”
“Has anyone else noticed a lot more groundling crowd noise on The Daily Show and the Colbert Report?”
“And there you were, like a lampost, willing to share your genius with us, to drop bits of wit and nearly other-worldly wisdom upon us groundling.”
“Alidar Jarok, even a groundling like me knows who you are.”
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