groundlubber n.

= groundhog n.

[< ground + landlubber]

  • [1918 P. F. Jones Training to Fly & Fight in Century Magazine Sept. 684/1 page image

    To the ground-lubber aviation may still be uncommon enough to appear to demand extraordinary men, but there are not enough of that sort to supply the demand for pilots.]

  • 1939 R. A. Heinlein Misfit in Astounding Science-Fiction Nov. 58/1 page image Robert A. Heinlein bibliography

    It’s a nuisance to have a bunch of ground-lubbers on board, sir.

  • 1941 R. A. Heinlein Methuselah’s Children in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 84/2 Robert A. Heinlein bibliography

    With thousands of groundlubbers aboard, he was reluctatant to increase the acceleration above that point for any sustained period—even two g’s might put too much of a strain on some of them.

  • 1942 R. A. Heinlein Waldo in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 21 page image Robert A. Heinlein bibliography

    I suppose I am a bit of a groundlubber, but I keep expecting a floor underfoot and a ceiling overhead.

  • 1953 D. Green Survival in Astounding Science Fiction July 75/1 page image Don Green bibliography

    For an amateur—and a ground[-]lubber at that—you’ve done right well.

  • 1967 J. Blish Star Trek 55 page image James Blish bibliography

    Designed by some groundlubber in the hope of giving offense to nobody (or, as the official publicity had put it, ‘to accommodate all faiths of all planets,’ a task impossible on the face of it), the chapel was simplified and devoid of symbols to the point of insipidity; but its very existence acknowledged that even the tightly designed Enterprise was a world in itself, and as such had to recognize that human beings often have religious impulses.

  • 1980 J. Robinson & S. Robinson Stardance 193 page image bibliography

    Li is one of those paradoxes, like Isaac Asimov refusing to fly. For all his understanding of the issues of space, this is the first time he’s been further off-planet than a jetliner goes. He’s a groundlubber at heart.

  • 2020 E. Bear Machine i. 12 Elizabeth Bear bibliography

    And Hhayazh, in particular, is the sort of twiggy, bristle-covered, black-carapaced insectoid sentience that gives groundlubbers the shrieking jimjams.


Research requirements

antedating 1939

Earliest cite

Robert A. Heinlein, "Misfit", in Astounding

Research History
Suggested by Ben Ostrowsky, who also submitted a 1942 cite from Robert Heinlein, a 1967 cite from James Blish, a 1980 cite from Jeanne and Spider Robinson, and a 2020 cite from Elizabeth Bear.

Last modified 2021-02-11 16:37:59
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.