a spectator or reader of inferior taste (originally a member of the part of a theatre audience that traditionally stood in the pit beneath the stage) 低层次观众(或读者),缺乏鉴赏能力的观众(或读者)(原意指旧时剧院后座站票观众) Dante is not for groundlings. 但丁的作品不是给低层次读者看的。
a person on the ground as opposed to one in a spacecraft or aircraft 地面上的人(与飞机、飞船上的人相对)
a fish that lives at the bottom of lakes and streams, especially a gudgeon or loach 水底鱼类(尤指(鱼句)鱼或泥鳅)
a creeping or dwarf plant 匍匐植物;矮生植物
语源
early 17th cent. (denoting a fish): from ground + -ling; compare with Dutch grondeling, German Gründling 'gudgeon'