subterranean

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Related to subterranean: Subterranean Water

sub·ter·ra·ne·an

(sŭb′tə-rā′nē-ən)

adj.

1. Situated or operating beneath the earth's surface; underground.

2. Hidden; secret: subterranean motives for murder.

[Latin subterrāneus : sub-, sub- + terra, earth; see ters- in Indo-European roots.]

sub′ter·ra′ne·an·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

subterranean

(ˌsʌbtəˈreɪnɪən)

adj

1. Also: subterraneous or subterrestrial situated, living, or operating below the surface of the earth

2. existing or operating in concealment

[C17: from Latin subterrāneus, from sub- + terra earth]

ˌsubterˈraneanly, ˌsubterˈraneously adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sub•ter•ra•ne•an

(ˌsʌb təˈreɪ ni ən)

adj. Also, sub`ter•ra′ne•ous.

1. existing, situated, or operating below the earth's surface; underground.

2. existing or operating out of sight or secretly.

3. a person or thing that is subterranean.

[1595–1605; < Latin subterrāneus= sub- + terra earth]

sub`ter•ra′ne•an•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	subterranean - being or operating under the surface of the earth; "subterranean passages"; "a subsurface flow of water" subterraneous subsurface - beneath the surface; "subsurface materials of the moon"
	2.	subterranean - lying beyond what is openly revealed or avowed (especially being kept in the background or deliberately concealed); "subterranean motives for murder"; "looked too closely for an ulterior purpose in all knowledge"- Bertrand Russell ulterior, subterraneous covert - secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; "covert actions by the CIA"; "covert funding for the rebels"

subterranean

adjective

Located or operating beneath the earth's surface:

hypogeal, hypogean, hypogeous, subterrestrial, underground.

Translations

تَحت أرضي

podzemní

underjordisk

unterirdischsubterran

subterráneo

souterrain

neîanjarîar-

sotterraneo

požeminis

apakšzemes-pazemes-

underjordisk

podzemie

yer altı

地下的

subterranean

[ˌsʌbtəˈreɪnɪən] ADJ (lit, fig) → subterráneo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

subterranean

[ˌsʌbtəˈreɪniən] adj → souterrain(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

subterranean

adj → unterirdisch; (fig) force, power → verborgen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

subterranean

[ˌsʌbtəˈreɪnɪən] adj → sotterraneo/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

subterranean

(sabtəˈreiniən) adjective

lying, situated or constructed underground. subterranean passages.

References in classic literature ?

But there were some who believed it had never been a well at all, and was never deeper than it is now--eighty feet; that at that depth a subterranean passage branched from it and descended gradually to a remote place in the valley, where it opened into somebody's cellar or other hidden recess, and that the secret of this locality is now lost.

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If beneath England the now inert subterranean forces should exert those powers, which most assuredly in former geological ages they have exerted, how completely would the entire condition of the country be changed!

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Each adult Martian female brings forth about thirteen eggs each year, and those which meet the size, weight, and specific gravity tests are hidden in the recesses of some subterranean vault where the temperature is too low for incubation.

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We dared not follow the banks of the subterranean river for fear lest we should fall into it again in the darkness.

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He recalled his arrival on the island, his presentation to a smuggler chief, a subterranean palace full of splendor, an excellent supper, and a spoonful of hashish.

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"Thank you, sir, but the way by the subterranean passage would take too much time and I have none to lose."

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Antonia Shimerda liked to go with me, and we used to wonder a great deal about these birds of subterranean habit.

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Man's soul, however, is deep, its current gusheth in subterranean caverns: woman surmiseth its force, but comprehendeth it not.--

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"Flowering shrubs don't thrive in the subterranean caverns from which geysers spring," suggested Bradley.

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Not indeed that I can hope to put into words the charm of those embowered cottages, like nests in the armpits of great trees, tucked snugly in the hollows of those narrow, winding, almost subterranean lanes which burrow their way beneath the warm-hearted Surrey woodlands.

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"Yes; a subterranean passage, which I have named the Arabian Tunnel.

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I was awakened with a start by cries of alarm, and scarce were my eyes opened, nor had I yet sufficiently collected my wits to quite realize where I was, when a fusillade of shots rang out, reverberating through the subterranean corridors in a series of deafening echoes.