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5 dictionary results for: Underworld
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
un·der·world       [uhn-der-wurld] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.the criminal element of human society.
2.the imagined abode of departed souls or spirits; Hades.
3.a region below the surface, as of the earth or a body of water.
4.the opposite side of the earth; the antipodes.
5.Archaic. the earth.
[Origin: 1600–10; under- + world]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
un·der·world       (ŭn'dər-wûrld')  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. The part of society that is engaged in and organized for the purpose of crime and vice.
  2. A region, realm, or dwelling place conceived to be below the surface of the earth.
  3. The opposite side of the earth; the antipodes.
  4. Greek & Roman Mythology The world of the dead, located below the world of the living; Hades.
  5. Archaic The world beneath the heavens; the earth.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
underworld 
1608, "the lower world, Hades," also "the earth," as distinguished from heaven (1609). Cf. Ger. unterwelt, Du. onderwereld, Dan. underverden. Meaning "lower level of society" is first recorded 1890; "criminals and organized crime collectively" is attested from 1900.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
underworld

noun
1. the criminal class 
2. (religion) the world of the dead; "No one goes to Hades with all his immense wealth"-Theognis [syn: Hell] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Underworld

Un"der*world`\, n. 1. The lower of inferior world; the world which is under the heavens; the earth.

That overspreads (with such a reverence) This underworld. --Daniel.

2. The mythological place of departed souls; Hades.

3. The portion of the world which is below the horizon; the opposite side of the world; the antipodes. [R.]

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail, That brings our friends up from the underworld. --Tennyson.

4. The inferior part of mankind. [R.] --Atterbury.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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