groundwork
/ˈɡɹaʊndˌwɜːɹk/ noun C1- The foundation; the basic or fundamental parts that support or allow for the rest. · The discovery of the laws of electricity laid the groundwork for a century of innovation.
Plural groundworks
From the library
“From the very beginning, from the first moment, I may almost say, of my acquaintance with you, your manners impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form that groundwork of disapprobation, on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”
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