ground rule

Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.

ground rule

1. Sports A rule governing the playing of a game on a particular field, course, or court.

2. A basic rule of procedure or behavior.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ground rule

a procedural rule or principle

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ground′ rule`

1. a basic or governing principle of conduct in a situation: the ground rules of a debate.

2. any of certain sports rules adopted, as in baseball, for playing in a particular stadium or field.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

ground rule - (baseball) a special rule (as in baseball) dealing with situations that arise due to the nature of the playing grounds

baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!"

rule - directions that define the way a game or sport is to be conducted; "he knew the rules of chess"

ground rule

noun principle, rule, formula, fundamental, standard, criterion, proposition, precept The ground rules for the current talks should be maintained.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

norma base

ground rule

n the ground rules → le regole del gioco

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

One ground rule is when a beneficiary fails to produce semester results and engages in dishonesty.

Damang Goldfields awards scholarships to 50

Ground rule: Build on others' ideas by identifying an additional benefit of the idea, providing a missing piece, or using it as a springboard to an even more exciting possibility.

Boosting creativity

Manco Mitevski from Utrinski vesnik says that in the past three years there has been a ground rule: whenever the government cannot solve a problem, whenever it is faced by a great economic-political crisis or when things do not go as planned- to seek support through elections, to create affairs or open fronts on battles of decision against its non-followers.

Gruevski--wants everything for himself!

Over the years, when sharing my painting technique with others, I've set one ground rule which follows from my observations: in Nature, there are no mistakes.

Painting with leaves: an elegant brush with nature

At the moment, because this obsession doesn't yet exist, it's possible only to suggest what the ground rules are that determine bureaucratic quality (which might replace the current ground rule, "Nothing government does can ever work").

Government can work

Ground Rule #1: People, not structure, make the organization work or fail.

How to set up a client database

The second ground rule is to distinguish popular books from those that are really groundbreaking.

Get your faith off the shelf

In the absence of such a ground rule, when you catch a ball that is in play, you lose the point, regardless of whether you are inside or outside the court.

Etiquette on the links

Make a ground rule that discussions focus on positive ideas, suggestions, or solutions.

Good trip leaders go one step beyond: the dos and don'ts of trip leadership

"Security review," the Department of Defense continued, "would be performed by the military in the field, giving the commander's representative the opportunity to address potential ground rule violations.

War coverage guidelines: after six months of talks, media and military agree on proposed principles for news coverage of battlefield operations

ANNA Raeburn says that throughout her marriage she insisted she and husband Nick stick to the one ground rule of always being honest with each other and telling one another everything.

Sue Carroll's column: ANNA Raeburn

Lay down the ground rules Christmas parties can be a great morale booster and a way to say thank you to your team for all their hard work over the previous year.