From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Prepositional phrase
[edit]on the ground
- In an area (location) of interest or active operations, versus outside that area (and especially, far away from it).
- Synonyms: in the field, on the spot (in one of its senses), on location, in situ
You might feel differently about this policy if you were on the ground in a war zone.
- In the daily life of the general public, or at least in that of some group of people who aren't out-of-touch elites.
- Near-synonyms: on the street, in the streets, in reality, in the real world
Evidently, senior management has no idea how things get done by those of us on the ground.
2023 July 15, Brooks Barnes, quoting Fran Drescher, “In Hollywood, the Strikes Are Just Part of the Problem”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:“It’s so obvious that he has no clue as to what is really happening on the ground,” she added.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see on, the, ground.
I'm still surprised that I found a hundred-dollar bill just lying on the ground.
