GROUND

I. Soil; earth; a portion of the earth's surface appropriated to private use and under cultivation or susceptible of cultiv,;i.tion. Though this term is sometimes used in con• veyances and irr statutes as equivalent to "land," it is properly of a more limited signification, because it applies strictly only to the surface, while "land" includes everything beneath the surface, and because "ground" always means dry land, whereas "land" may and often doe■ include the beds,of lakes and streams and oth• er surfaces under water. See Wood v. Carter, 70 [s. 555]