below
English
Etymology
From Middle English bilooghe, equivalent to be- + low. Compare also earlier Middle English alogh, alow, aloȝ, alowe (“below”) and benethen (“beneath”).
Pronunciation
Preposition
below
- Lower in spatial position than.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
- 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.
- The treasure is buried two meters below the surface.
-
- Lower in value, price, rank or concentration than.
- Addison
- one degree below kings
- 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:
- 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.
- The temperature is below zero.
- Addison
- Downstream of.
- South of.
- Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of; beneath.
- John Milton
- They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, […] how below all history the persons and their actions were.
- Hallam
- who thinks no fact below his regard
- Such petty behavior is below me.
- John Milton
- (stage directions) Downstage of.
- 1952, Frederick Knott, Dial "M" for Murder, 1954 Dramatists Play Service acting edition, act 1, scene 1:
- Below the sofa is a low, round coffee table.
- 1952, Frederick Knott, Dial "M" for Murder, 1954 Dramatists Play Service acting edition, act 1, scene 1:
Synonyms
- (lower in spatial position than): beneath, under, underneath
- (lower in value than): under
- (downstream of): downstream
- (unsuitable to the rank or dignity of): beneath
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
lower in spatial position than
|
|
lower in value than
downstream of
south of
unsuitable to the rank or dignity of
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Adverb
below (not comparable)
- In a lower place.
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175, page 035:
- But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, […].
-
- On a lower storey.
- Further down.
- (nautical) On a lower deck.
- the landlubbers lying down below
- (of a temperature) Below zero.
Synonyms
- (in a lower place): beneath, under, underneath
- (on a lower storey): downstairs
- (farther down): downwards
Antonyms
Translations
in a lower place
|
on a lower storey
farther down
nautical: on a lower deck
Derived terms
References
- Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The vertical axis", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8
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