groundwork
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
groundwork
n 1: the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun
or developed or calculated or explained; "the whole
argument rested on a basis of conjecture" [syn: {basis},
{base}, {foundation}, {fundament}, {groundwork},
{cornerstone}]
2: lowest support of a structure; "it was built on a base of
solid rock"; "he stood at the foot of the tower" [syn:
{foundation}, {base}, {fundament}, {foot}, {groundwork},
{substructure}, {understructure}]
3: preliminary preparation as a basis or foundation; "we are
prepared today because of groundwork that was done ten years
ago"
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Groundwork \Ground"work`\ (ground"w[^u]rk`), n.
That which forms the foundation or support of anything; the
basis; the essential or fundamental part; first principle;
as, development of a convenient DNA sequencing technique
layed the groundwork for many of the subsequent advances in
molecular genetics. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
78 Moby Thesaurus words for "groundwork":
arrangement, base, basement, basic training, basis, bearing wall,
bed, bedding, bedrock, bottom, briefing, clearing the decks,
cornerstone, equipment, familiarization, fixing, floor, flooring,
fond, footing, foundation, fundament, fundamental, ground, grounds,
hardpan, infrastructure, makeready, making ready, manufacture,
mobilization, pavement, planning, prearrangement, preliminaries,
preliminary, preliminary act, preliminary step, prep, preparation,
preparatory study, preparing, prepping, prerequisite, pretreatment,
principle, processing, propaedeutic, provision, radical, readying,
riprap, rock bottom, root, rudiment, seat, sill, solid ground,
solid rock, spadework, stereobate, stylobate, substratum,
substruction, substructure, terra firma, training, treatment,
trial, tryout, underbuilding, undercarriage, undergirding,
underpinning, underpinnings, understruction, understructure,
warm-up
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