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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

undertow.

To pull or tow under; drag beneath; pull down.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb

  1. To pull or tow under; drag beneath; pull down.

    transitive

  2. To pull down by, or as by, an undertow.

    transitive

  3. To flow or behave as an undertow.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *-tér Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Indo-European *h₂én Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi ? Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- English tow English undertow From under- + tow.

noun

  1. A short-range flow of water returning seaward from the waves breaking on the shore.

    A strong undertow may sweep a returning swimmer off their feet but it does not carry them far from the shore.

  2. A feeling that runs contrary to one's normal one.

    broadly
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *-tér Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Indo-European *h₂én Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi ? Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- English tow English undertow From under- + tow.

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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.