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underground

7 dictionary results for: underground

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

un·der·ground

[adv., uhn-der-ground; adj., n., v. uhn-der-ground] Pronunciation Key

–adverb

1.	beneath the surface of the ground: traveling underground by subway.

2.	in concealment or secrecy; not openly: subversion carried on underground.

–adjective

3.	existing, situated, operating, or taking place beneath the surface of the ground.

4.	used, or for use, underground.

5.	hidden or secret; not open: underground political activities.

6.	published or produced by political or social radicals or nonconformists: an underground newspaper.

7.	avant-garde; experimental: an underground movie.

8.	critical of or attacking the established society or system: underground opinion.

9.	of or for nonconformists; unusual: an underground vegetarian restaurant.

–noun

10.	the place or region beneath the surface of the ground.

11.	an underground space or passage.

12.	a secret organization fighting the established government or occupation forces: He fought in the French underground during the Nazi occupation of France.

13.	(often initial capital letter) a movement or group existing outside the establishment and usually reflecting unorthodox, avant-garde, or radical views.

14.	Chiefly British. a subway system.

–verb (used with object)

15.	to place beneath the surface of the ground: to underground utility lines.

[Origin: 1565–75; under- + ground¹

]

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·ground (ŭn'dər-ground') Pronunciation Key
adj.

Situated, occurring, or operating below the surface of the earth: underground caverns; underground missile sites.
1. Hidden or concealed; clandestine: underground resistance to the tyrant.
2. Of or relating to an organization involved in secret or illegal activity: underground trade in weapons.
Of or relating to an avant-garde movement or its films, publications, and art, usually privately produced and of special appeal and often concerned with social or artistic experiment.

A clandestine, often nationalist, organization fostering or planning hostile activities against, or the overthrow of, a government in power, such as an occupying military government: "an underground of dissident intellectuals" (Kenneth L. Woodward).
Chiefly British A subway system.
An avant-garde movement or publication.

adv. (ŭn'dər-ground')

Below the surface of the earth.
In secret; stealthily.

tr.v. un·der·ground·ed, un·der·ground·ing, un·der·grounds
To situate under the ground: workers undergrounding telephone lines.

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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
underground (adv.)

1571, "below the surface," from under + ground (n.). Adj. is attested from 1610; fig. sense of "hidden, secret" is attested from 1632; adj. meaning "subculture" is from 1953, from World War II application to resistance movements against German occupation, on analogy of the dominant culture and Nazis. Noun sense of "underground railway" is from 1887 (phrase underground railway itself is attested from 1834).

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

underground
adjective
1.	under the level of the ground; "belowground storage areas"; "underground caverns" [syn: belowground]
2.	conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; "clandestine intelligence operations"; "cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines"; "hole-and-corner intrigue"; "secret missions"; "a secret agent"; "secret sales of arms"; "surreptitious mobilization of troops"; "an undercover investigation"; "underground resistance" [syn: clandestine]
adverb
1.	in or into hiding or secret operation; "the organization was driven underground"
2.	beneath the surface of the earth; "water flowing underground"
noun
1.	a secret group organized to overthrow a government or occupation force
2.	an electric railway operating below the surface of the ground (usually in a city); "in Paris the subway system is called the 'metro' and in London it is called the 'tube' or the 'underground'" [syn: metro]