Word.ws English Dictionary

under

Syllables: un·derUK/ˈʌndə/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/ˈʊndə/

under preposition: beneath; below; at or to the bottom of, or the area covered or surmounted by.

under: beneath; below; at or to the bottom of, or the area covered or surmounted by
Image: Javier Carro, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Preposition

under

  1. 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!
    1. Below the surface of.
      • Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants!1998, “SpongeBob SquarePants Theme”, in Stephen Hillenburg, Derek Drymon (lyrics), SpongeBob SquarePants: Original Theme Highlights
  2. From one side of to the other, passing beneath.
    • I crawled under the fence.
    • There is a tunnel under the English Channel.
  3. Less than.
    • Interest rates are now under 1%.
    • We can get there in under an hour.
  4. Subject to.
    • We were constantly under bombardment.
    • I can't live under these circumstances.
    1. 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.
  5. Within the category, classification or heading of.
    • I talked Mom into letting me drop out of Girl Scouts and the Marian [redacted]. Let's just put that under "Unsuccessful Challenge."1965 January 13, Lou Sullivan, Diary
    • File this under "i" for "ignore".
  6. (figuratively) In the face of; in response to (some attacking force).
    • England's World Cup dreams fell apart under a French onslaught on a night when their shortcomings were brutally exposed at the quarter-final stage.2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France
    • to collapse under stress; to give in under interrogation
  7. Using or adopting (a name, identity, etc.).
    • J.K. Rowling has written a crime novel called 'The Cuckoo's Calling' under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.2013, The Huffington Post, JK Rowling Pseudonym: Robert Galbraith's 'The Cuckoo's Calling' Is Actually By Harry Potter Author
    • He writes books under the name John Smith.

Adverb

under (not comparable)

  1. In or to a lower or subordinate position, or a position beneath or below something, physically or figuratively.
    • pulled under by the currents
    • weighed under by worry
  2. So as to pass beneath something.
    • There's quite a gap, so you may be able to sneak under.
  3. (in-compounds, usually) Less than what is necessary to be adequate or suitable; insufficient.
    • The plants were underwatered.
    • Women are under-represented.
  4. (informal) In or into an unconscious state.
    • It took the hypnotist several minutes to make his subject go under.
  5. 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.

Adjective

under (comparative more under, superlative most under)

  1. Lower; beneath something.
    • This treatment protects the under portion of the car from rust.
    • (in compounds) underbelly, underside, undershirt, undersecretary
  2. In a state of subordination, submission or defeat.
    • The army could not keep the people under.
    • I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians ix:27
  3. (colloquial) Under anesthesia, especially general anesthesia; sedated.
    • Ensure the patient is sufficiently under.
    • To the anesthetist Moynihan said, “Have a look down the hall, will you, and see if the nurse has the bed ready. And leave the doors open when you come back so we can carry him through. Send anybody but the nurse away. Then come back and give us a hand with him. Not that he’s so heavy . . .” And...1968, Agatha Young, chapter 44, in I Swear by Apollo, New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 461
  4. (informal) 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.

Noun

under (plural unders)

  1. The amount by which an actual total is less than the expected or required amount.
    • […] standard cash count forms used to record the count and any overs or unders.2008, G. Puttick, Sandy van Esch, The Principles and Practice of Auditing, page 609
  2. (informal) 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.
  3. A bet that a particular sporting statistic, such as points scored in a game, will be below a certain stated value.

under meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Sanskrit

under in Hindi

beneath the surface of
... के नीचे ... ke nīce
at a lower level than
... के नीचे ... ke nīce

under in Urdu

beneath the surface of
... کے نیچے ... ke nīce

under in Bengali

at a lower level than
নিচে nice

under in Sanskrit

at a lower level than
अधस् adhás
More languagesFewer languages
under in Pashto
د لاندی dë lânde, لاندی lânde
under in Tagalog
ibaba
under in Arabic
تَحْتَ taḥta
under in Malay
di bawah, bawah
under in Indonesian
di bawah, bawah
under in Persian
تحت taht, زیر zir
under in Thai
ใต้ dtâai, ภายใต้ paai-dtâai
under in Vietnamese
dưới
under in Myanmar
အောက် auk

Examples of under in a sentence

  • There is nothing new under the sun.
  • There is an oil leak under the car.
  • The matter is under investigation.
  • Under the law and concession agreement with other parties, the private company must pay taxes in time and on a right amount.
  • She now lives under a new identity.
  • My pay packet last week was £10 under.

All 40 example sentences with under

Synonyms of under

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of under

Forms of under

Adjective
comparativemore under
superlativemost under
Noun
pluralunders

Origin of under

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”).

Words formed from under

Phrases with under

169 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with under

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about under

What does under mean?
Under means beneath; below; at or to the bottom of, or the area covered or surmounted by.
What is under in Hindi?
Under in Hindi is ... के नीचे (... ke nīce). See Under meaning in Hindi.
How do you use under in a sentence?
There is nothing new under the sun.
What part of speech is under?
Under can be a preposition, an adverb, an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce under?
Under is pronounced /ˈʌndə/ (UK).

Words near under in the dictionary

  1. undeprived
  2. undeprotonated
  3. undepurated
  4. undeputed
  5. undeputized
  6. under
  7. under a cloud
  8. under a lucky star
  9. under a spell
  10. under and over
  11. under and overs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: under (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-under.wav.

Cite this entry: “under.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/under. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.