| background | (noun) scenery hung at back of stage | Synonyms: backcloth, backdrop |
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| (noun) (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear | Synonyms: desktop, screen background |
| (noun) a person's social heritage: previous experience or training | - |
| (noun) the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground | Synonyms: ground |
| (noun) information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem | Synonyms: background knowledge |
| (noun) extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured | Synonyms: background signal |
| (noun) relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation | - |
| (noun) the state of the environment in which a situation exists | Synonyms: scope, setting |
| backgrounder | (noun) a press conference or interview in which a government official explains to reporters the background of an action or policy | - |
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| backgrounding | (noun) the execution of low priority programs while higher priority programs are not using the processing system | Synonyms: background processing |
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| battleground | (noun) a region where a battle is being (or has been) fought | Synonyms: battlefield, field, field of battle, field of honor |
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| bedground | (noun) an area on which a drove of cattle or sheep can sleep for a night | Synonyms: bed-ground, bed ground |
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| bloodhound | (noun) a breed of large powerful hound of European origin having very acute smell and used in tracking | Synonyms: sleuthhound |
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| boarhound | (noun) large hound used in hunting wild boars | - |
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| bound | (noun) a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards | Synonyms: bounce, leap, leaping, saltation, spring |
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| (noun) the greatest possible degree of something | Synonyms: boundary, limit |
| (noun) the line or plane indicating the limit or extent of something | Synonyms: boundary, bounds |
| (noun) a line determining the limits of an area | Synonyms: boundary, edge |
| boundary | (noun) the greatest possible degree of something | Synonyms: bound, limit |
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| (noun) the line or plane indicating the limit or extent of something | Synonyms: bound, bounds |
| (noun) a line determining the limits of an area | Synonyms: bound, edge |
| boundedness | (noun) the quality of being finite | Synonyms: finiteness, finitude |
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| bounder | (noun) someone who is morally reprehensible | Synonyms: blackguard, cad, dog, heel, hound |
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| (noun) someone who bounds or leaps (as in competition) | Synonyms: leaper |
| boundlessness | (noun) the quality of being infinite; without bound or limit | Synonyms: infiniteness, infinitude, limitlessness, unboundedness |
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| bounds | (noun) the line or plane indicating the limit or extent of something | Synonyms: bound, boundary |
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| campground | (noun) a site where people on holiday can pitch a tent | Synonyms: bivouac, camping area, camping ground, camping site, campsite, encampment |
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| cofounder | (noun) one of a group of founders | - |
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| compound | (noun) an enclosure of residences and other building (especially in the Orient) | - |
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| (noun) a whole formed by a union of two or more elements or parts | - |
| (noun) a word (as anthropology, kilocycle, builder) consisting of any of various combinations of words, combining forms, or affixes. | Synonyms: compound word |
| (noun) (chemistry) a substance formed by chemical union of two or more elements or ingredients in definite proportion by weight | Synonyms: chemical compound |
| compounding | (noun) the act of combining things to form a new whole | Synonyms: combination, combining |
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| coonhound | (noun) any of several breeds of hound developed for hunting raccoons | - |
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| deerhound | (noun) very large and tall rough-coated dog bred for hunting deer; known as the royal dog of Scotland | Synonyms: Scottish deerhound |
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| elkhound | (noun) breed of compact medium-sized dog with a heavy grey coat developed in Norway for hunting elk | Synonyms: Norwegian elkhound |
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| expounder | (noun) a person who explains | Synonyms: expositor |
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| expounding | (noun) a systematic interpretation or explanation (usually written) of a specific topic | Synonyms: exposition |
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| fairground | (noun) an open area for holding fairs or exhibitions or circuses | - |
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| flounder | (noun) any of various European and non-European marine flatfish | - |
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| (noun) flesh of any of various American and European flatfish | - |
| foreground | (noun) (computer science) a window for an active application | - |
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| (noun) the part of a scene that is near the viewer | - |
| foregrounding | (noun) the execution of a program that preempts the use of the processing system | Synonyms: foreground processing |
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| found | (noun) food and lodging provided in addition to money | - |
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| foundation | (noun) the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new | Synonyms: creation, founding, initiation, innovation, instauration, institution, introduction, origination |
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| (noun) lowest support of a structure | Synonyms: base, foot, fundament, groundwork, substructure, understructure |
| (noun) a woman's undergarment worn to give shape to the contours of the body | Synonyms: foundation garment |
| (noun) the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained | Synonyms: base, basis, cornerstone, fundament, groundwork |
| (noun) education or instruction in the fundamentals of a field of knowledge | Synonyms: grounding |
| (noun) an institution supported by an endowment | - |
| (noun) the basis on which something is grounded | - |
| founder | (noun) a person who founds or establishes some institution | Synonyms: beginner, father, founding father |
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| (noun) a worker who makes metal castings | - |
| (noun) inflammation of the laminated tissue that attaches the hoof to the foot of a horse | Synonyms: laminitis |
| foundering | (noun) (of a ship) sinking | Synonyms: going under |
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| founding | (noun) the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new | Synonyms: creation, foundation, initiation, innovation, instauration, institution, introduction, origination |
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| foundling | (noun) a child who has been abandoned and whose parents are unknown | Synonyms: abandoned infant |
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| foundress | (noun) a woman founder | - |
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| foundry | (noun) factory where metal castings are produced | Synonyms: metalworks |
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| foxhound | (noun) medium-sized glossy-coated hounds developed for hunting foxes | - |
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| greyhound | (noun) a tall slender dog of an ancient breed noted for swiftness and keen sight; used as a racing dog | - |
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| ground | (noun) the first or preliminary coat of paint or size applied to a surface | Synonyms: flat coat, primer, primer coat, priming, priming coat, undercoat |
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| (noun) (art) the surface (as a wall or canvas) prepared to take the paint for a painting | - |
| (noun) a connection between an electrical device and a large conducting body, such as the earth (which is taken to be at zero voltage) | Synonyms: earth |
| (noun) the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground | Synonyms: background |
| (noun) a relatively homogeneous percept extending back of the figure on which attention is focused | - |
| (noun) a position to be won or defended in battle (or as if in battle) | - |
| (noun) a rational motive for a belief or action | Synonyms: occasion, reason |
| (noun) the solid part of the earth's surface | Synonyms: dry land, earth, land, solid ground, terra firma |
| (noun) material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use) | Synonyms: land, soil |
| (noun) a relation that provides the foundation for something | Synonyms: basis, footing |
| (noun) the loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface | Synonyms: earth |
| groundball | (noun) (baseball) a hit that travels along the ground | Synonyms: ground ball, grounder, hopper |
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| groundberry | (noun) creeping shrub of eastern North America having white bell-shaped flowers followed by spicy red berrylike fruit and shiny aromatic leaves that yield wintergreen oil | Synonyms: checkerberry, creeping wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens, ground-berry, mountain tea, teaberry, wintergreen |
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| (noun) small prostrate or ascending shrub having scarlet flowers and succulent fruit resembling cranberries; sometimes placed in genus Styphelia | Synonyms: Astroloma humifusum, cranberry heath, ground-berry, native cranberry, Styphelia humifusum |
| groundbreaker | (noun) someone who helps to open up a new line of research or technology or art | Synonyms: innovator, pioneer, trailblazer |
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| groundbreaking | (noun) the ceremonial breaking of the ground to formally begin a construction project | Synonyms: groundbreaking ceremony |
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| groundcover | (noun) small plants other than saplings growing on a forest floor | Synonyms: ground cover |
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| (noun) low-growing plants planted in deep shade or on a steep slope where turf is difficult to grow | Synonyms: ground cover |
| grounder | (noun) (baseball) a hit that travels along the ground | Synonyms: ground ball, groundball, hopper |
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| groundfish | (noun) fish that live on the sea bottom (particularly the commercially important gadoid fish like cod and haddock, or flatfish like flounder) | Synonyms: bottom fish |
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| groundhog | (noun) reddish brown North American marmot | Synonyms: Marmota monax, woodchuck |
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| grounding | (noun) fastening electrical equipment to earth | Synonyms: earthing |
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| (noun) education or instruction in the fundamentals of a field of knowledge | Synonyms: foundation |
| groundkeeper | (noun) someone who maintains the grounds (of an estate or park or athletic field) | Synonyms: groundskeeper, groundsman |
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| groundlessness | (noun) the quality of lacking substance or value | Synonyms: idleness |
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| groundling | (noun) in Elizabethan theater: a playgoer in the cheap standing section | - |
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| groundmass | (noun) (geology) the matrix of fine-grained crystalline material in which larger crystals are embedded | - |
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| groundnut | (noun) nutlike tuber; important food of Native Americans | Synonyms: potato bean, wild bean |
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| (noun) pod of the peanut vine containing usually 2 nuts or seeds; `groundnut' and `monkey nut' are British terms | Synonyms: earthnut, goober, goober pea, monkey nut, peanut |
| (noun) a North American vine with fragrant blossoms and edible tubers; important food crop of Native Americans | Synonyms: Apios americana, Apios tuberosa, groundnut vine, Indian potato, potato bean, wild bean |
| grounds | (noun) the enclosed land around a house or other building | Synonyms: curtilage, yard |
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| (noun) your basis for belief or disbelief; knowledge on which to base belief | Synonyms: evidence |
| (noun) a justification for something existing or happening | Synonyms: cause, reason |
| (noun) a tract of land cleared for some special purposes (recreation or burial etc.) | - |
| (noun) dregs consisting of solid particles (especially of coffee) that form a residue | - |
| groundsel | (noun) Eurasian weed with heads of small yellow flowers | Synonyms: Senecio vulgaris |
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| groundsheet | (noun) a waterproofed piece of cloth spread on the ground (as under a tent) to protect from moisture | Synonyms: ground cloth |
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| groundskeeper | (noun) someone who maintains the grounds (of an estate or park or athletic field) | Synonyms: groundkeeper, groundsman |
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| groundsman | (noun) someone who maintains the grounds (of an estate or park or athletic field) | Synonyms: groundkeeper, groundskeeper |
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| groundspeed | (noun) the speed of an aircraft relative to the ground | - |
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| groundwork | (noun) preliminary preparation as a basis or foundation | - |
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| (noun) lowest support of a structure | Synonyms: base, foot, foundation, fundament, substructure, understructure |
| (noun) the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained | Synonyms: base, basis, cornerstone, foundation, fundament |
| hellhound | (noun) a very evil man | - |
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| (noun) (Greek mythology) the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades; son of Typhon | Synonyms: Cerberus |
| homebound | (noun) people who are confined to their homes | - |
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| horehound | (noun) a candy that is flavored with an extract of the horehound plant | - |
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| (noun) any of various aromatic herbs of the genus Marrubium | - |
| hound | (noun) any of several breeds of dog used for hunting typically having large drooping ears | Synonyms: hound dog |
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| (noun) someone who is morally reprehensible | Synonyms: blackguard, bounder, cad, dog, heel |
| impounding | (noun) placing private property in the custody of an officer of the law | Synonyms: impoundment, internment, poundage |
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| impoundment | (noun) placing private property in the custody of an officer of the law | Synonyms: impounding, internment, poundage |
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| iodocompound | (noun) a compound containing the covalent iodine radical | - |
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| mound | (noun) the position on a baseball team of the player who throws the ball for a batter to try to hit | Synonyms: pitcher |
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| (noun) structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones | Synonyms: hill |
| (noun) (baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands | Synonyms: hill, pitcher's mound |
| (noun) a collection of objects laid on top of each other | Synonyms: agglomerate, cumulation, cumulus, heap, pile |
| (noun) a small natural hill | Synonyms: hammock, hillock, hummock, knoll |
| otterhound | (noun) hardy British hound having long pendulous ears and a thick coarse shaggy coat with an oily undercoat; bred for hunting otters | Synonyms: otter hound |
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| playground | (noun) yard consisting of an outdoor area for children's play | - |
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| (noun) an area where many people go for recreation, holidays or other purposes | Synonyms: resort area, vacation spot |
| pound | (noun) the act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows) | Synonyms: hammer, hammering, pounding |
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| (noun) a public enclosure for stray or unlicensed dogs | Synonyms: dog pound |
| (noun) a symbol for a unit of currency (especially for the pound sterling in Great Britain) | Synonyms: pound sign |
| (noun) a nontechnical unit of force equal to the mass of 1 pound with an acceleration of free fall equal to 32 feet/sec/sec | Synonyms: lbf. |
| (noun) the basic unit of money in Great Britain and Northern Ireland; equal to 100 pence | Synonyms: British pound, British pound sterling, pound sterling, quid |
| (noun) the basic unit of money in Cyprus; equal to 100 cents | Synonyms: Cypriot pound |
| (noun) the basic unit of money in Egypt; equal to 100 piasters | Synonyms: Egyptian pound |
| (noun) formerly the basic unit of money in Ireland; equal to 100 pence | Synonyms: Irish pound, Irish punt, punt |
| (noun) the basic unit of money in Lebanon; equal to 100 piasters | Synonyms: Lebanese pound |
| (noun) the basic unit of money in the Sudan; equal to 100 piasters | Synonyms: Sudanese pound |
| (noun) the basic unit of money in Syria; equal to 100 piasters | Synonyms: Syrian pound |
| (noun) 16 ounces avoirdupois | Synonyms: lb |
| (noun) a unit of apothecary weight equal to 12 ounces troy | - |
| poundage | (noun) placing private property in the custody of an officer of the law | Synonyms: impounding, impoundment, internment |
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| (noun) weight expressed in pounds | - |
| (noun) a fee charged for the recovery of impounded animals | - |
| (noun) a charge based on weight measured in pounds | - |
| poundal | (noun) a unit of force equal to the force that imparts an acceleration of 1 foot/sec/sec to a mass of 1 pound; equal to 0.1382 newtons | Synonyms: pdl |
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| pounder | (noun) a heavy tool of stone or iron (usually with a flat base and a handle) that is used to grind and mix material (as grain or drugs or pigments) against a slab of stone | Synonyms: muller, pestle |
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| (noun) (used only in combination) something weighing a given number of pounds | - |
| pounding | (noun) the act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows) | Synonyms: hammer, hammering, pound |
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| (noun) repeated heavy blows | Synonyms: buffeting |
| (noun) an instance of rapid strong pulsation (of the heart) | Synonyms: throb, throbbing |
| profoundness | (noun) the quality of being physically deep | Synonyms: deepness, profundity |
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| (noun) intellectual depth, penetrating knowledge, keen insight, etc; "the depth of my feeling"; "the profoundness of the silence" | Synonyms: profundity |
| (noun) the intellectual ability to penetrate deeply into ideas | Synonyms: astuteness, deepness, depth, profundity |
| (noun) wisdom that is recondite and abstruse and profound | Synonyms: abstruseness, abstrusity, profundity, reconditeness |
| (noun) extremeness of degree | - |
| rebound | (noun) the act of securing possession of the rebounding basketball after a missed shot | - |
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| (noun) a reaction to a crisis or setback or frustration | - |
| (noun) a movement back from an impact | Synonyms: backlash, recoil, repercussion |
| round | (noun) (often plural) a series of professional calls (usually in a set order) | - |
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| (noun) the usual activities in your day | Synonyms: daily round |
| (noun) the activity of playing 18 holes of golf | Synonyms: round of golf |
| (noun) any circular or rotating mechanism | Synonyms: circle |
| (noun) a charge of ammunition for a single shot | Synonyms: one shot, unit of ammunition |
| (noun) a crosspiece between the legs of a chair | Synonyms: rung, stave |
| (noun) a partsong in which voices follow each other; one voice starts and others join in one after another until all are singing different parts of the song at the same time | Synonyms: troll |
| (noun) an outburst of applause | - |
| (noun) a cut of beef between the rump and the lower leg | - |
| (noun) a serving to each of a group (usually alcoholic) | Synonyms: round of drinks |
| (noun) a regular route for a sentry or policeman | Synonyms: beat |
| (noun) the course along which communications spread | - |
| (noun) (sports) a division of a game during which one team is on the offensive | Synonyms: bout, turn |
| (noun) an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs | Synonyms: cycle, rhythm |
| roundabout | (noun) a road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island | Synonyms: circle, rotary, traffic circle |
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| (noun) a large, rotating machine with seats for children to ride on for amusement | Synonyms: carousel, carrousel, merry-go-round, whirligig |
| roundedness | (noun) the property possessed by a rounded convexity | Synonyms: bulginess |
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| roundel | (noun) round piece of armor plate that protects the armpit | - |
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| (noun) (heraldry) a charge in the shape of a filled circle | - |
| (noun) English form of rondeau having three triplets with a refrain after the first and third | - |
| roundelay | (noun) a song in which a line or phrase is repeated as the refrain | - |
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| rounder | (noun) a tool for rounding corners or edges | - |
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| (noun) a dissolute person; usually a man who is morally unrestrained | Synonyms: debauchee, libertine |
| rounders | (noun) an English ball game similar to baseball | - |
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| roundhead | (noun) a brachycephalic person | - |
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| roundhouse | (noun) a hook delivered with an exaggerated swing | - |
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| (noun) workplace consisting of a circular building for repairing locomotives | - |
| rounding | (noun) (mathematics) a miscalculation that results from rounding off numbers to a convenient number of decimals | Synonyms: rounding error |
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| roundness | (noun) the property possessed by a line or surface that is curved and not angular | - |
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| (noun) the bodily property of being well rounded | Synonyms: embonpoint, plumpness |
| (noun) the quality of being round numbers | - |
| (noun) the fullness of a tone of voice | Synonyms: rotundity |
| roundsman | (noun) a workman employed to make rounds (to deliver goods or make inspections or so on) | - |
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| roundtable | (noun) a meeting of peers for discussion and exchange of views | Synonyms: round-table conference, round table |
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| roundup | (noun) the systematic gathering up of suspects by the police | - |
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| (noun) the activity of gathering livestock together so that they can be counted or branded or sold | - |
| (noun) a summary list; as in e.g. "a news roundup" | - |
| roundworm | (noun) unsegmented worms with elongated rounded body pointed at both ends; mostly free-living but some are parasitic | Synonyms: nematode, nematode worm |
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| (noun) infections of the skin or nails caused by fungi and appearing as itching circular patches | Synonyms: ringworm, tinea |
| scoundrel | (noun) a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately | Synonyms: villain |
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| sleuthhound | (noun) a breed of large powerful hound of European origin having very acute smell and used in tracking | Synonyms: bloodhound |
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| (noun) a detective who follows a trail | Synonyms: sleuth |
| smoothhound | (noun) smooth dogfish of European coastal waters | Synonyms: Mustelus mustelus, smoothhound shark |
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| sound | (noun) the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause | - |
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| (noun) the subjective sensation of hearing something | Synonyms: auditory sensation |
| (noun) the audible part of a transmitted signal | Synonyms: audio |
| (noun) (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language | Synonyms: phone, speech sound |
| (noun) the sudden occurrence of an audible event | - |
| (noun) a large ocean inlet or deep bay | - |
| (noun) a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water | Synonyms: strait |
| (noun) mechanical vibrations transmitted by an elastic medium | - |
| soundboard | (noun) (music) resonator consisting of a thin board whose vibrations reinforce the sound of the instrument | Synonyms: sounding board |
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| soundbox | (noun) a resonating chamber in a musical instrument (as the body of a violin) | Synonyms: body |
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| sounder | (noun) a device for making soundings | - |
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| sounding | (noun) the act of measuring depth of water (usually with a sounding line) | - |
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| (noun) a measure of the depth of water taken with a sounding line | - |
| soundlessness | (noun) the property of making no sound | Synonyms: quietness |
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| soundman | (noun) a technician in charge of amplifying sound or producing sound effects (as for a TV or radio broadcast) | - |
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