underground
pronunciation
How to pronounce underground in British English:
UK [ˌʌndəˈɡraʊnd]
How to pronounce underground in American English:
US [ˌʌndərˈɡraʊnd]
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- Noun:
- a secret group organized to overthrow a government or occupation force
- electric underground railway
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- Adjective:
- under the level of the ground
- conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
- used of independent armed resistance forces
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- Adverb:
- in or into hiding or secret operation
- beneath the surface of the earth
Word Origin
- underground (adv.)
- 1570s, "below the surface," from under + ground (n.). As an adjective, attested from c. 1600; figurative sense of "hidden, secret" is attested from 1630s; adjectival meaning "subculture" is from 1953, from adjectival use in reference to World War II resistance movements against German occupation, on analogy of the dominant culture and the Nazis. Noun sense of "underground railway" is from 1887 (shortened from phrase underground railway, itself attested from 1834).
Example
- 1. Many raised capital from family or underground banks .
- 2. London 's underground trains have already been disrupted .
- 3. Where lost microbe empires may still survive underground .
- 4. Though mining is still a dangerous business , computers now monitor safety conditions underground .
- 5. We carefully followed his directions so as to not endanger anyone in this underground world .