underground
underground
pronunciation note: The adverb is pronounced (ʌndəʳgraʊnd ). The noun and adjective are pronounced (ʌndəʳgraʊnd ).
1. adverb [ADVERB after verb]
Something that is underground is below the surface of the ground.
Solid low-level waste will be disposed of deep underground.
The plane hit so hard that one engine was buried 16 feet underground.
below ground, in the earth, under the earth, below the surface2. singular noun [oft by NOUN]
3. singular noun
In a country which is controlled by an enemy or has a harsh government, the underground is an organized group of people who are involved in illegal activities against the people in power.
These U.S. dollars were smuggled into the country during the war, to aid the underground.
4. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
Underground groups and activities are secret because their purpose is to oppose the government and they are illegal.
...the underground Kashmir Liberation Front.
They are accused of organising and financing an underground youth movement.
secret, undercover, covert, hidden, guerrilla, revolutionary, concealed, confidential, dissident, closet, subversive, clandestine, renegade, insurgent, hush-hush [informal], surreptitious, cloak-and-dagger, hugger-mugger, insurrectionist, hole-and-corner [informal], radical5. adverb [ADVERB after verb]
If you go underground, you hide from the authorities or the police because your political ideas or activities are illegal.
After the violent clashes of 1981 they either went underground or left the country.
...opposition leaders, who are working underground because of the threat of arrest.
