Below Meaning
/bɪˈləʊ/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
prepLower in spatial position than.
prepLower than in value, price, rank, concentration, etc.
Sentence Examples
Your marks were well below average this term.
Your work is below average.
He dived below the surface of the water.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The temperature dropped to ten degrees ____ freezing last night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The temperature dropped to ten degrees ____ zero during the night today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English bilooghe, equivalent to be- + low. Compare also earlier Middle English alogh, alow, aloȝ, alowe (“below”), benethen (“beneath”), Dutch omlaag (“downwards”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"one degree below kings"
— 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
"Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer."
— 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:
"They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, […] how below all history the persons and their actions were."
— 1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC:
"who thinks no fact below his regard"
— 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The temperature dropped to ten degrees ____ freezing last night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The temperature dropped to ten degrees ____ zero during the night today.