Lexic.us

Definition of Groundling

1. Noun. In Elizabethan theater: a playgoer in the cheap standing section.

Definition of Groundling

1. n. A fish that keeps at the bottom of the water, as the loach.

Definition of Groundling

1. Noun. any of various plants or animals living on or near the ground, as a benthic fish or bottom feeder ¹

2. Noun. by association, an individual of uncultivated or uncultured taste ¹

3. Noun. ''in Elizabethan theater'': an audience member (usually standing) in the cheap section ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Groundling

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Groundling

1. 1. A fish that keeps at the bottom of the water, as the loach. 2. A spectator in the pit of a theater, which formerly was on the ground, and without floor or benches. "No comic buffoon to make the groundlings laugh." (Coleridge) Origin: Ground + -ling. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Groundling

Literary usage of Groundling

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Glossary: Or, Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to by Robert Nares, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, Thomas Wright (1901)
"Hanmer speaks of the fish called t groundling ; but the names have no connection, except in being both derived from ground. ..."

2. A Practical Dictionary of the English and German Languages by Felix Flügel, Johann Gottfried Flügel (1861)
"Ich. 1. a)groundling; ft) gudgeon; 2. For.crooked and knotty timber, ©nhl'tung, (ic.)/. foundation, establishment, erection ..."

3. A Glossary: Or, Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to by Robert Nares (1859)
"groundling, from the former, spectator in that part of the ... fish called a groundling; but the names have uo connection, except in being both derived from ..."

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