Adjacent Words

Underground definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

UNDERGROUND', n. A place or space beneath the surface of the ground.
UN'DERGROUND, a. Being below the surface of the ground; as an underground story or apartment.
UNDERGROUND', adv. Beneath the surface of the earth.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: under the level of the ground; "belowground storage areas"; "underground caverns" [syn: belowground, underground]
2: conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; "clandestine intelligence operations"; "cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines"; "hole-and-corner intrigue"; "secret missions"; "a secret agent"; "secret sales of arms"; "surreptitious mobilization of troops"; "an undercover investigation"; "underground resistance" [syn: clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, hole-and-corner, hugger-mugger, hush-hush, secret, surreptitious, undercover, underground] n
1: a secret group organized to overthrow a government or occupation force [syn: underground, resistance]
2: an electric railway operating below the surface of the ground (usually in a city); "in Paris the subway system is called the `metro' and in London it is called the `tube' or the `underground'" [syn: metro, tube, underground, subway system, subway] adv
1: in or into hiding or secret operation; "the organization was driven underground"
2: beneath the surface of the earth; "water flowing underground"

Merriam Webster's

I. adverb Date: 14th century 1. beneath the surface of the earth 2. in or into hiding or secret operation II. noun Date: 1594 1. a subterranean space or channel 2. an underground city railway system 3. a. a movement or group organized in strict secrecy among citizens especially in an occupied country for maintaining communications, popular solidarity, and concerted resistive action pending liberation b. a clandestine conspiratorial organization set up for revolutionary or other disruptive purposes especially against a civil order c. an unofficial, unsanctioned, or illegal but informal movement or group; especially a usually avant-garde group or movement that functions outside the establishment III. adjective Date: 1601 1. being, growing, operating, or situated below the surface of the ground 2. conducted by secret means 3. a. existing outside the establishment <an underground literary reputation> b. existing outside the purview of tax collectors or statisticians <the underground economy> 4. a. produced or published outside the establishment especially by the avant-garde <underground movies> <underground newspapers> b. of or relating to the avant-garde underground <an underground moviemaker> <an underground theater>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adv., adj., n., & v. --adv. 1 beneath the surface of the ground. 2 in or into secrecy or hiding. --adj. 1 situated underground. 2 secret, hidden, esp. working secretly to subvert a ruling power. 3 unconventional, experimental (underground press). --n. 1 an underground railway. 2 a secret group or activity, esp. aiming to subvert the established order. --v.tr. lay (cables) below ground level.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Underground Un"der*ground`, n. The place or space beneath the surface of the ground; subterranean space. A spirit raised from depth of underground. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Underground Un"der*ground`, a. 1. Being below the surface of the ground; as, an underground story or apartment. 2. Done or occurring out of sight; secret. [Colloq.] Underground railroad or railway. See under Railroad.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Underground Un"der*ground`, adv. Beneath the surface of the earth.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Something that is underground is below the surface of the ground. Solid low-level waste will be disposed of deep underground... The plane hit so hard that one engine was buried 16 feet underground. ADV: ADV after v • Underground is also an adjective. ...a run-down shopping area with an underground car park. ...underground water pipes. ADJ: ADJ n 2. The underground in a city is the railway system in which electric trains travel below the ground in tunnels. (BRIT; in AM, use subway) ...a woman alone in the underground waiting for a train... He crossed London by underground... N-SING: the N, also by N 3. In a country which is controlled by an enemy or has a harsh government, the underground is an organized group of people who are involved in illegal activities against the people in power. These US dollars were smuggled into the country during the war, to aid the underground. N-SING: the N 4. Underground groups and activities are secret because their purpose is to oppose the government and they are illegal. They are accused of organising and financing an underground youth movement. ADJ: ADJ n 5. If you go underground, you hide from the authorities or the police because your political ideas or activities are illegal. After the violent clashes of 1981 they either went underground or left the country. ADV: ADV after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Subterranean, subterraneous.

Moby Thesaurus

Amtrak, Charley, L, Trojan horse, VC, Vietcong, abstruse, agreement to disagree, alienated, alienation, alternative, antiestablishment, apostasy, at odds with, at rest, at variance with, avant-garde, back door, back stairs, back way, back-door, backstairs, baggage train, beclouded, behind the curtain, behind the scenes, behind the veil, blind, bolt-hole, branch, breakaway, buried, bushfighter, bushwhacker, cable railroad, cable railway, casual, choo-choo, clandestine, close, clouded, cog railroad, cog railway, collaborationist, collaborator, concealed, counter-culture, covered, covert, covert way, covertly, crypto, deep-buried, difference, differing, disaccord, disagreeing, disagreement, disapprobation, disapproval, disparity, dissatisfaction, dissension, dissent, dissentience, dissentient, dissenting, dissidence, dissident, diversity, dropping out, eclipsed, el, electric, electric railway, electric train, elevated, elevated railway, embankment, escalier derobe, escape hatch, escape route, experimental, express, express train, extremists, feeder, feeder line, feline, fellow traveler, fifth column, fifth columnist, flier, fraternizer, freight, freight train, freighter, funicular, furtive, goods train, gravity-operated railway, guerillas, guerrilla, hid, hidden, hidlings, hole-and-corner, horse railway, hugger-mugger, in a cloud, in a corner, in a fog, in a whisper, in darkness, in eclipse, in hidlings, in opposition, in purdah, in secret, in the background, in the dark, in the wings, incommunicado, insurgents, insurrectionists, interurban, irregular, junction, latent, light railroad, lightning express, limited, line, local, main line, maquis, maquisard, metro, milk train, minority opinion, monorail, mysterious, nobody the wiser, nonagreement, nonassent, nonconcurrence, nonconforming, nonconformist, nonconformity, nonconsent, obfuscated, obscure, obscured, occult, opposing, opposition, parliamentary, parliamentary train, partisan, passenger train, private, privy, quiet, rack railway, rack-and-pinion railroad, rack-and-pinion railway, radical, rail, rail line, railroad, railroad train, railway, rattler, recondite, recusance, recusancy, recusant, rejection, repudiation, resistance, resistance fighter, resting in peace, revolutionary, roadbed, roadway, rolling stock, saboteur, secession, secluded, secluse, secret, secret exit, secret passage, secret staircase, secretly, sectarian, sectary, security risk, sequestered, shifty, shuttle, shuttle train, side door, sidetrack, siding, skulking, slinking, slinky, sly, sneaking, sneaky, sotto voce, special, stealthy, streamliner, street railway, streetcar line, sub rosa, subterranean, subterraneous, subversive, subversives, subway, sunken, surreptitious, switchback, terminal, terminus, track, train, tram, tramline, trestle, trolley line, trunk, trunk line, tube, turnout, under an eclipse, under cover, under house arrest, under the breath, under the rose, under wraps, under-the-counter, under-the-table, undercover, underfoot, underground fighter, underground railroad, underground route, underhand, underhanded, unknown, unobtrusive, variance, way train, with bated breath, withdrawal, wrapped in clouds