under
UK /ˈʌndə/ · US /ˈʌndɚ/ preposition, adverb, adjective, noun
Forms unders
- preposition Beneath; below; at or to the bottom of, or the area covered or surmounted by. “We found some shade under a tree.”
- preposition Below the surface of.
- preposition From one side of to the other, passing beneath. “I crawled under the fence.”
- preposition Less than. “Interest rates are now under 1%.”
- preposition Subject to. “We were constantly under bombardment.”
- preposition Subordinate to; subject to the control of; in accordance with; in compliance with. “He served in World War II under General Omar Bradley.”
- preposition Within the category, classification or heading of. “File this under "i" for "ignore".”
- preposition (figuratively) In the face of; in response to (some attacking force). “to collapse under stress; to give in under interrogation”
- adverb In or to a lower or subordinate position, or a position beneath or below something, physically or figuratively.
- adverb So as to pass beneath something.
- adverb (usually in compounds) Less than what is necessary to be adequate or suitable; insufficient. “The plants were underwatered.”
- adverb (informal) In or into an unconscious state. “It took the hypnotist several minutes to make his subject go under.”
- adverb Down to defeat, ruin, or death. “The COVID-19 epidemic and shutdown took some businesses under.”
- adjective Lower; beneath something. “This treatment protects the under portion of the car from rust.”
- adjective In a state of subordination, submission or defeat. “The army could not keep the people under.”
- adjective (medicine, colloquial) Under anesthesia, especially general anesthesia; sedated. “Ensure the patient is sufficiently under.”
- adjective (informal) Having a particular property that is low, especially so as to be insufficient or lacking in a particular respect. “This chicken is a bit under.”
- noun The amount by which an actual total is less than the expected or required amount.
- noun (informal) Something having a particular property that is low or too low. “I went fishing but caught nothing but unders.”
- noun (gambling) A bet that a particular sporting statistic, such as points scored in a game, will be below a certain stated value.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English under, from Old English under, from Proto-West Germanic *undar, from Proto-Germanic *under, from a merger of Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér (“under”) and *h₁entér (“inside”).
Cognate with German unter, Dutch onder, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish under, Faroese and Icelandic undir; also Old High German untar (“under”), Sanskrit अन्तर् (antar, “within”), Latin infrā (“below, beneath”) and inter (“between, among”).
Webster’s 1913
- preposition Below or lower, in place or position, with the idea of being covered; lower than; beneath; --opposed to over; as, he stood under a tree; the carriage is under cover; a cellar extends under the whole house.
- preposition Hence, in many figurative uses which may be classified as follows; -- (a) Denoting relation to some thing or person that is superior, weighs upon, oppresses, bows down, governs, directs, influences powerfully, or the like, in a relation of subjection, subordination, obligation, liability, or the like; as, to travel under a heavy load; to live under extreme oppression; to have fortitude under the evils of life; to have patience under pain, or under misfortunes; to behave like a Christian under reproaches and injuries; under the pains and penalties of the law; the condition under which one enter
- adverb In a lower, subject, or subordinate condition; in subjection; - -used chiefly in a few idiomatic phrases; as, to bring under, to reduce to subjection; to subdue; to keep under, to keep in subjection; to control; to go under, to be unsuccessful; to fail.
- adjective Lower in position, intensity, rank, or degree; subject; subordinate; --generally in composition with a noun, and written with or without the hyphen; as, an undercurrent; undertone; underdose; under-garment; underofficer; undersheriff. Under covert (Zoöl.), one of the feathers situated beneath the bases of the quills in the wings and tail of a bird. See Illust. under Bird.
Etymology [AS. under, prep. & adv.; akin to OFries. under, OS. undar, D. onder, G. unter, OHG. untar, Icel. undir, Sw. & Dan. under, Goth. undar, L. infra below, inferior lower, Skr. adhas below. sq. root201. Cf. Inferior.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “under”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details