background and ground share a recorded sense, so the question is not what they mean but which one fits. background means “a person's social heritage: previous experience or training”. ground means “fix firmly and stably”. ground is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈbækˌɡɹaʊnd/
1.n.a person's social heritage: previous experience or training
“he is a lawyer with a sports background”
2.n.the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground
“he posed her against a background of rolling hills”
3.n.information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem
“the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident”
/ˈɡɹaʊnd/
1.v.fix firmly and stably
“anchor the lamppost in concrete”
2.v.confine or restrict to the ground
“After the accident, they grounded the plane and the pilot”
3.v.place or put on the ground
| background | ground | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈbækˌɡɹaʊnd/ | /ˈɡɹaʊnd/ |
| Said | BAK-grownd | grownd |
| Syllables | 2 | 1 |
| Letters | 10 | 6 |
| Parts of speech | noun, verb | verb, noun |
| Senses | 9 | 23 |
| How common | Common | Core |
| Synonyms | none recorded | anchor |
Full entry for background · Full entry for ground · More comparisons