underground

CEFRB1

/ˌʌn.dəˈɡɹaʊnd/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
adjective
Below the surface of the ground.
02
noun
A system of trains running below a city.

Examples

Rescuers found victims trapped several feet underground.
Tom stood on the platform in Westminster Underground Station.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 2
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

Hidden, furtive, secretive.
Of or relating to an art forms (such as music) or subculture that is outside the mainstream, especially one that is unofficial and hidden from the authorities.
Below the ground; below the surface of the Earth.

More examples

In context

The plant has an underground stem.
There is an underground tunnel that takes you across the river.
These criminals operate through an underground network.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank train system in the city is very fast.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.
2014 June 14, “It’s a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2014
One is to underground where no other alternative will work, and this method should be used universally in urban regions as it now is in “downtown” sections.
1962, David Pesonen, “Battles Over Energy”, in Carolyn Merchant, editor, Green Versus Gold: Sources in California's Environmental History, Island Press, published 1998, →ISBN, page 325
Also, undergrounding may not eliminate the potential for crashes with other roadside objects, such as trees, walls, buildings, and so forth. [...] When looking at the fesibility of undergrounding utilities, the complete roadside area and nearby adjacent properties should be evaluated for potential roadside obstructions or hazards.
2004, Don L. Ivey, C. Paul Scott, “Solutions”, in Transportation Research Board Committee on Utilities, editor, Utilities and Roadside Safety, State of the Art Report 9, Transportation Research Board, →ISBN, page 9
The utility now wants the network to be undergrounded in the urban areas, which would mean substations with 33 kV distribution swtichgear.
2006, Janes Northcote-Green, Robert Wilson, “Design, Construction and Operation of Distribution Systems, MV Networks”, in Control and Automation of Electrical Power Distribution Systems, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 110
‘[…]he wrote to me last week telling me about an incredible bitch of a row blazing there on account of someone having been and gone and produced an unofficial magazine called Raddled, full of obscene libellous Oz-like filth. And what I though, what Sammy and I thought, was—why not?’ ‘Why not what?’ said Tom. ‘Why not do the same thing here?’ ‘You mean an underground magazine?’ ‘Yup.’
1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, page 27

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Origin

adjective

From Middle English undergrounde (adverb), equivalent to under + ground or under- + ground. Compare Dutch ondergrond, ondergronds, German Untergrund, Danish undergrunds.

Deep Dive

adjective

More examples

Related

Quick test

The blank— train system in the city is very fast.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

The blank train system in the city is very fast.