Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Describes a ship, boat, or other vessel that is stuck because its bottom is resting on the ground, seabed, or shore, preventing it from floating freely.
2. Adverb:
   • Describes the manner or result of a vessel's movement, meaning it has become stuck on the ground or shore.

Usage

• Adjective: Used after a verb like "be," "lie," or "remain" to describe the state of a vessel.
• Adverb: Used after a verb like "run," "go," or "drift" to describe the action that caused the vessel to become stuck.

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The tanker was aground on a sandbar for three days.
  • We found the fishing boat aground and abandoned.
• Adverb:
  • The captain accidentally ran the ship aground in the fog.
  • The storm caused the yacht to go aground.

Advanced Usage

• "To be hard and fast aground": Emphasizes that a vessel is firmly and immovably stuck.
  • The freighter is hard and fast aground; it will need tugboats to be refloated.
• Used figuratively to describe a plan or process that has been completely halted or stuck.
  • The negotiations ran aground over the issue of funding.

Variants and Related Words

• Ground (verb): To cause a vessel to touch the bottom or run aground. ()
• Strand (verb): To leave someone or something, like a ship, in a helpless position. ()
• Reef (noun): A ridge of rock or coral near the surface of the water, often causing vessels to run aground.

Synonyms

• Beached: Specifically when a vessel is driven or pulled onto a beach.
• Stranded: Left in a difficult or helpless position, often aground.
• High and dry: Left out of the water, often by a receding tide.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Run aground: To cause a vessel to become stuck on the bottom.
  • The oil tanker ran aground, causing an environmental disaster.
• Go aground: To become stuck on the bottom (often used without specifying a direct cause).
  • The sailboat went aground during the night.

Related Idioms

• Run aground: Used metaphorically for plans, relationships, or projects that fail or stop progressing.
  • Their ambitious project ran aground due to a lack of public support.

Adjective

1. stuck in a place where a ship can no longer float
   • a ship aground offshore
   • a boat aground on the beach waiting for the tide to lift it

Adverb

1. with the bottom lodged on the ground
   • he ran the ship aground