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Is it correct to use "grounds-up" (intended meaning: "done from scratch", contracted from the expression "From the ground up"), as an adjective?

E.g.,

"This is a grounds-up implementation of the back-end server."

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The correct term is "from the ground up" which calls to mind how a building is built.

See from the ground up from TFD Online.

from the ground up
starting with nothing The company was built from the ground up by two very creative people.

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OP refined his question in the comment, and here is my reply:

You could easily use the singular version as an adjective ("a from-the-ground-up implementation"). There would be a potential confusion, however, by merely calling something a "ground-up implementation" because that would invoke the idea of something that had been subjected to a grinding process. I'd advise using the whole phrase. But the point is never to use "grounds up".

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  • Thanks for the reply. I was trying to avoid using "From the ground up" because I wanted to place it next to the noun (in this sentence it is important to strees that the implementation being talked about is new), and I wasn't sure if something like _"This is a from-the-ground-up implementation of..." would be correct.
    – Nubarke
    Commented Oct 12, 2016 at 14:20
  • @DanielArmengod: I focused on your misuse of the plural (grounds), but you could easily use the singular version as an adjective: "a from-the-ground-up implementation" ... there would be a potential confusion to merely calling something a "ground-up implementation" because that would invoke the idea of something that had been subjected to a grinding process."
    – Robusto
    Commented Oct 12, 2016 at 14:22
  • I can't find any mention of bottom-up on this page. That and top-down are the standard "single-word" adjectival forms.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Oct 12, 2016 at 16:34
  • I think bottom-up conveys a different meaning from from the ground up. The former is more about spatial orientation or perspective, the latter about fundamentals and order.
    – Robusto
    Commented Oct 12, 2016 at 17:42

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