underground

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

• Rhymes: -aʊnd

underground (comparative more underground, superlative most underground)

1. (not comparable) Below the ground; below the surface of the Earth.

   Synonym: subterranean

   There is an underground tunnel that takes you across the river.

   • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

     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.

2. (figuratively) Hidden, furtive, secretive.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hidden, Thesaurus:covert

   These criminals operate through an underground network.

3. (Of music, art &c.) Outside the mainstream, especially unofficial and hidden from the authorities.

   Synonyms: unconventional, alternative

   Antonym: mainstream

   underground music

   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, page 27:

     ‘ […] 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.’

underground (comparative more underground, superlative most underground)

1. Below the ground.

   Synonym: below ground

   The tunnel goes underground at this point.

2. Secretly.

   Synonyms: clandestinely, in secret, on the quiet

underground (plural undergrounds)

1. (geography) Regions beneath the surface of the earth, both natural (eg. caves) and man-made (eg. mines).
2. (chiefly Britain) Synonym of subway: a railway that is under the ground.

   London Underground

3. (with definite article) A movement or organisation of people who resist political convention.

   Synonym: resistance

   the French underground during World War II

4. (with definite article) A movement or organisation of people who resist artistic convention.

   Synonyms: avant-garde, counterculture

underground (third-person singular simple present undergrounds, present participle undergrounding, simple past and past participle undergrounded)

1. To route electricity distribution cables underground
   • 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:

     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.

   • 2004, Don L. Ivey and 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:

     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.

   • 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:

     The utility now wants the network to be undergrounded in the urban areas, which would mean substations with 33 kV distribution swtichgear.

• underground railway
• go underground

From English underground.

underground

1. underground (culture)

• undergroundelokuva
• undergroundkirjallisuus
• undergroundkulttuuri
• undergroundsarjakuva

From English underground.

• IPA^(key): /œ̃.dɛʁ.ɡʁawnd/

underground (invariable)

1. underground (outside the mainstream)

underground m (uncountable)

1. (singular only) the underground (people who resist artistic convention)

• “underground” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From English underground.

l'underground m (invariable)

1. the underground (people who resist artistic convention)

From English underground.

underground m (plural undergrounds)

1. underground (movement)