under.
Beneath; below; at or to the bottom of, or the area covered or surmounted by.
Meaning & usage
Beneath; below; at or to the bottom of, or the area covered or surmounted by.
We found some shade under a tree.
Quick, stuff the cash under the mattress!
Beneath; below; at or to the bottom of, or the area covered or surmounted by. Below the surface of.
From one side of to the other, passing beneath.
I crawled under the fence.
There is a tunnel under the English Channel.
Less than.
Interest rates are now under 1%.
We can get there in under an hour.
Subject to.
We were constantly under bombardment.
I can't live under these circumstances.
Subject to. Subordinate to; subject to the control of; in accordance with; in compliance with.
He served in World War II under General Omar Bradley.
During the pandemic, we had to live under severe restrictions.
Within the category, classification or heading of.
File this under "i" for "ignore".
In the face of; in response to (some attacking force).
to collapse under stress; to give in under interrogation
Using or adopting (a name, identity, etc.).
He writes books under the name John Smith.
She now lives under a new identity.
Where this word comes from
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”).
In or to a lower or subordinate position, or a position beneath or below something, physically or figuratively.
So as to pass beneath something.
Less than what is necessary to be adequate or suitable; insufficient.
The plants were underwatered.
Women are under-represented.
In or into an unconscious state.
It took the hypnotist several minutes to make his subject go under.
Down to defeat, ruin, or death.
The COVID-19 epidemic and shutdown took some businesses under.
Big-box store and online retailing have driven many specialty and local retail stores under.
Where this word comes from
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”).
Lower; beneath something.
This treatment protects the under portion of the car from rust.
In a state of subordination, submission or defeat.
The army could not keep the people under.
Under anesthesia, especially general anesthesia; sedated.
Ensure the patient is sufficiently under.
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.
This bag of apples feels under.
Where this word comes from
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”).
The amount by which an actual total is less than the expected or required amount.
Something having a particular property that is low or too low.
I went fishing but caught nothing but unders.
Usually I am at least ten over on that course, but I have shot a couple of unders.
A bet that a particular sporting statistic, such as points scored in a game, will be below a certain stated value.
Where this word comes from
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”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.