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BELOW

 - 5 dictionary results

be⋅low

  [bi-loh]
–adverb
1. in or toward a lower place: Look out below!
2. on, in, or toward a lower level, as a lower deck of a ship: The captain of the ship went below.
3. beneath the surface of the water: Divers were sent below to view the wreck.
4. on earth: the fate of creatures here below.
5. in hell or the infernal regions.
6. at a later point on a page or in a text: See the illustration below. Compare above (def. 5).
7. in a lower rank or grade: He was demoted to the class below.
8. under zero on the temperature scale: The temperature in Buffalo was ten below this morning.
9. Theater. downstage. Compare above (def. 8).
10. Zoology. on the lower or ventral side.
–preposition
11. lower down than: below the knee.
12. lower in rank, degree, amount, rate, etc., than: below cost; below freezing.
13. too low or undignified to be worthy of; beneath: He considered such an action below his notice.
14. Theater. downstage of: There are two chairs below the table.
Use BELOW in a Sentence
Origin:
1275–1325; ME bilooghe, equiv. to bi- by (see be- ) + looghe low 1

Synonyms:
11. Below, under, beneath indicate position in some way lower than something else. Below implies being in a lower plane: below the horizon, the water line. Under implies being lower in a perpendicular line: The book is under the chair. Beneath may have a meaning similar to below, but more usually denotes being under so as to be covered, overhung, or overtopped: the pool beneath the falls.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To BELOW
be·low   (bĭ-lō')   
adv.  

  1. In or to a lower place; beneath.

    1. On or to a lower floor; downstairs.

    2. Nautical On or to a lower deck.

    3. In a lower rank or class.

    4. Below zero in temperature: 40° below.

  3. In a later part of a given text: figures quoted below.

  4. Farther down, as along a slope or valley.

  5. In or to hell or Hades.

  6. On the earth.

    1. In a lower rank or class.

    2. Below zero in temperature: 40° below.

prep.  

  1. Underneath; beneath.

  2. Lower than, as on a graduated scale.

  3. Downstream of: launched the canoe just below the bridge.

  4. South of: Guatemala is below Mexico.

  5. Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of: Such petty behavior is below me.


[Middle English bilooghe : bi, by; see by1 + loghe, low; see low1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

below 
c.1325, biloogh, from be- "by" + logh, lou, lowe "low." Apparently a variant of earlier a-lowe (influenced by other advs. in be-, cf. before), the parallel form to an-high (now on high). Beneath was the usual word; below was very rare in M.E. and only gained currency in 16c. It is frequent in Shakespeare. Below is the opposite of above and concerns difference of level and suggests comparison of independent things. Under is the opposite of over and is concerned with superposition and subjection and suggests some interrelation.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: be·low
Function: adverb
1 : in a lower court below…are correct —W. J. Brennan, Junior>
2 : lower on the same page or on a following page below>

Main Entry: below
Function: preposition
: lower in place, rank, or value than—below the line : in calculations that yield taxable income below the line>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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