Underground

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aÊŠnd

Origin

under + ground.

Full definition of underground

Adjective

1. (not comparable) Below the ground; below the surface of the Earth.
   There is an underground tunnel that takes you across the river.
• 2014-06-14, It's a gas, 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. Hidden, furtive, secretive.
   These criminals operate through an underground network.
3. Of music, art, etc, outside the mainstream.

Synonyms

• (below the ground) subterranean
• (hidden) clandestine, hidden, hush-hush, secret
• (outside the mainstream) avant-garde, unconventional

Adverb

1. Below the ground.The tunnel goes underground at this point.
2. Secretly.

Synonyms

• (below the ground) below ground
• (secretly) clandestinely, in secret, on the quiet

Noun

1. (chiefly British) An underground railway.
2. (with "the") A movement or organisation of people who resist political convention.
3. (with "the") A movement or organisation of people who resist artistic convention.

Synonyms

• (underground railway) metro, métro the underground railway of Paris, subway US, Tube British - the underground railway of London
• (movement or organisation of people who resist political convention) resistance
• (movement or organisation of people who resist artistic convention) avant-garde, counter-culture

Verb

1. To route electricity distribution cables underground
• 1962, David Pesonen, Green Versus Gold: Sources in California's Environmental History Chapter Battles Over Energy, 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, Utilities and Roadside Safety Chapter Solutions, 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, Control and Automation of Electrical Power Distribution Systems Chapter Design, Construction and Operation of Distribution Systems, MV Networks, The utility now wants the network to be undergrounded in the urban areas, which would mean substations with 33 kV distribution swtichgear.