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Definition: Underground |
UndergroundAdjective1. Under the level of the ground; "belowground storage areas"; "underground caverns". 2. Conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; "clandestine intelligence operations"; "cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines"; "hole-and-corner intrigue"; "secret missions"; "a secret agent"; "secret sales of arms"; "surreptitious mobilization of troops"; "an undercover investigation"; "underground resistance". 3. Used of independent armed resistance forces; "guerrilla warfare"; "partisan forces". Adverb1. In or into hiding or secret operation; "the organization was driven underground". 2. Beneath the surface of the earth; "water flowing underground". Noun1. A secret group organized to overthrow a government or occupation force. 2. Electric underground railway. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "underground" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Building & Civil Engineering | Placed below the ground surface level. Source: European Union. (references) |
Computing | A light tint, with or without a design, used as a decorative base for text graphics printed in a different color. Source: European Union. (references) |
Dream Interpretation | To dream of being in an underground habitation, you are in danger of losing reputation and fortune. To dream of riding on an underground railway, foretells that you will engage in some peculiar speculation which will contribute to your distress and anxiety. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The London Underground is a public transport network, composed of electrified railways that run underground in tunnels in central London and above ground in the London suburbs. It is usually called either the Underground or the Tube by Londoners.
1The Circle Line became known as such in 1949. The Circle line was not built as a separate line, but was instead created by joining parts of the District and Metropolitan Lines.
Line Name Colour Year of Opening Type Notes Bakerloo Line Brown 1906 Deep level Central Line Red 1900 Deep level Circle Line Yellow 1884 Sub-surface 1 District Line Green 1868 Sub-surface 2 East London Line Orange 1869 Sub-surface 3a Hammersmith & City Line Pink 1864 Sub-surface 3b Jubilee Line Grey 1979 Deep level Metropolitan Line Purple 1863 Sub-surface Northern Line Black 1907 (part) Deep level 4 Piccadilly Line Dark blue 1906 Deep level Victoria Line Light blue 1969 Deep level Waterloo and City Line Teal 1898 Deep level 5
2Originally called the Metropolitan District Railway
3aOriginally a separate line operated by a consortium of companies including the Metropolitan. The line was owned by London Underground from 1948 but British Railways goods trains continued to run on it until 1966. It was for many years regarded as a branch of the Metropolitan Line, and was shown on the map as a purple and white striped line. The line gained its own identity in the late 1980s.
3bOriginally part of the Metropolitan Line, the line became known as the Hammersmith & City Line in 1990.
4The busiest line on the system, with two branches in central London.
5Came under control of London Transport in 1994.The Piccadilly Line now runs to Heathrow Airport and although it is slow (about 45 minutes) and sometimes crowded it is nonetheless the cheapest way to get straight to the city centre.
Interchange is possible with the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) at several stations, including Bank, Canary Wharf and Stratford, while access to the Croydon Tramlink system is possible at Wimbledon. Interchange with international Eurostar trains can be achieved at Waterloo.
The lack of lines in the south of the city is because of the geology of that area, the region almost being one large aquifer. This is made up for, however, by a large number of suburban rail services run by the South West Trains, South Central and Connex franchise holders (see British railway system).
History
Being one of the oldest and most complicated rapid transit systems in the world, the London Underground has a long history.
The first half of the 19th century saw rapid development in train services to London, but most mainline termini were constructed a long way away from the central business district to avoid damage to historic buildings. As a result, reliance on buses increased until London was gridlocked. The solution came in the form of yet another railway. In 1854 it was decided that the Metropolitan Railway Company would be allowed to build a short stretch of underground railway between Paddington and Farringdon. This would link the mainline termini of King's Cross, St. Pancras, Euston and Paddington to a point near the edge of the City of London. The relatively simple cut-and-cover method was used, because deep-level tunnel construction methods were not sufficiently advanced to construct anything more than covered trenches. This first part of the Metropolitan Railway was opened in 1863 using steam locomotives to haul trains, which meant that ventilation shafts had to be built at regular intervals.
Expansion was rapid. The Metropolitan quickly branched out into the suburbs, even creating whole villages from nothing in a region of countryside which came to be known as "Metroland". The railway bought up extra land adjacent to the railway and built houses in a spectacularly practical example of demand creation and by 1880 the 'Met' was carrying 40 million passengers a year.
Meanwhile, a second railway company began construction further south. The Metropolitan District Railway first opened a stretch from Westminster to South Kensington in 1868, taking advantage of the construction of the Thames embankment to expand towards the city, reaching Tower Hill and linking the termini of Victoria, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Cannon Street and Fenchurch Street. Having conquered the city, the District Railway turned its attention to commuters even more so than the Metropolitan Railway had, reaching Wimbledon, Richmond and Ealing.
Although the Circle Line didn't get its own identity until 1949, the "District" and the "Metropolitan" had linked up with each other to provide an "Inner Circle" service starting in 1884.
Advances in deep-level tunnel design came thick and fast. Tunnelling shields allowed stable tunnels to be constructed deep underground, and the world's first underground tube railway was the Tower Subway beneath the River Thames south of Tower Hill in 1870. While this was soon discontinued as a rail service, better shields and electric locomotive traction appealed to engineers for more ambitious schemes.
The result was the City and South London Railway, which linked King William Street (close to today's Monument Station) and Stockwell. The ride was unpleasantly rough and the lack of windows seemed to have a detrimental psychological effect. However, people learned from these mistakes and over the next 25 years six independent deep-level lines were built.
The presence of six independent operators operating different Tube lines was inconvenient. In many places passengers had to walk some distance above ground to change between lines. Also, the costs associated with running such a system were heavy, and as a result many companies looked to financiers who could give them the money they needed to expand into the lucrative suburbs.
One such financier was Charles Yerkes, an American tycoon whose company took over all but one Tube company (the Waterloo & City remained separate until 1994). Between the wars, expansion took place at a rapid pace, driving the Northern and Bakerloo Lines out into the suburbs of northern London. Architect Charles Holden's memorable station designs have brightened the commuter's journey both on these lines and elsewhere with a style which still looks fresh today.
World War II
The outbreak of World War II, and especially, The Blitz, led to the use of many Tube stations as air-raid shelters. They were particularly suited to this purpose, but sadly a small number of horrific accidents occurred, notably at Bethnal Green. Other stations and sections of line were given other uses:
- A remote stretch of the Central Line was turned into an underground aeroplane factory.
- The closed Brompton Road station was used as an anti-aircraft control centre.
- The closed Down Street station was used by Winston Churchill until the Cabinet War Rooms were built, after which it was used by the Emergency Railway Committee.
Post War Developments
Following that war, travel congestion continued to rise. The construction of the carefully planned Victoria Line on a diagonal NE-SW alignment beneath central London attracted much of the extra traffic caused by expansion after the war. It was designed so that almost all of the stations along its length allowed interchange with other lines, and it was the first underground line to use automatic train operation (ATO). The Jubilee Line was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee in 1977, but did not open until two years later. During the 1990s it was extended through the Docklands to Stratford in East London.The stations on the "Jubilee Line Extension" are particularly spacious and stylish, each one designed by a leading architect. London Underground states that North Greenwich station, for example, "is large enough to contain 3,000 double-decker buses or an ocean liner the size of the Queen Mary within its walls". Canary Wharf station is larger in volume than 1 Canada Square, one of the huge towers that dominates the Docklands area. The platforms west of Canning Town incorporate automated platform-edge doors that help to minimise the wind resistance of the train and prevent suicides. These modern stations include lifts (US: elevators) to ease access to all parts of the station complex, particularly by travellers having luggage, or using wheelchairs or push chairs.
An increasing problem for the system is flooding. Since the 1960s, the ground water of London has been rising, after the closing of industries such as breweries and paper mills that had previously extracted large volumes of water. By mid 2001 London Underground was reportedly pumping 30,000 cubic metres of water out of its tunnels each day.
Tickets
For fares Transport for London (and local National Rail franchisees) use a zonal pricing scheme where zone 1 is the most central, with a boundary just outside the Circle Line. After number 6, the zones are named A, B, C and D; zone D is the most remote and consists of Amersham and Chesham out in the Chiltern Hills on the Metropolitan Line. These lettered zones cater for the rural extremities of the tube and do not encircle the capital. Confusingly, the bus operators treat zones 4, 5 and 6 as a combined zone 4.
In general, the more zones travelled through, the higher the fare. Journeys through zone 1 are more expensive than those only involving outer zones. The zone system works well because most of the stations where lines cross are in zone 1, meaning that most journeys over similar distances will cost the same.
There are assistance booths open for limited periods, and ticket machines usable at any time. The machines will accept coins and fresh English paper money, though no Northern Irish or Scottish notes, beware! They usually give change. LT and the Docklands Light Railway have recently introduced credit and debit card ticket machines across their networks. A small number of cash machines dispensing all zone bus passes have appeared.
London Transport also sell daily, weekend, weekly, monthly, and annual "LT cards", allowing unlimited rides in one or more zones on buses or on the London Underground; these are a good deal for commuters and anyone else who rides the trains or buses daily. Travelcards are similar, although they also permit travel on National Rail. Daily Travelcards are only sold from machines after 9:30 am, but a peak hour inclusive version is available at a much higher price. Many shops, usually newsagents, sell bus passes and Travelcards; these are identified by a "Pass Agent" sign, usually in a door panel or front window. A day pass is valid until 4:30 am the next morning. Passes can be bought from these agents during a day prior to travel.
Station Access
Not all Underground stations are accessible by people with mobility problems. Many have some of the 408 escalators and 112 lifts (elevators), but not all of them.The escalators in London Underground stations are both an asset and a liability. They are among the longest escalators in Europe and all are bespoke (custom-built). Because of their age and heavy usage, they tend to break down rather frequently, causing long delays at stations.
London Transport now produce a map which specifically indicates which stations are accessible. However, step height from platform to train is often as high as 20 cm on older lines, and there can be a large gap between the train and some curving platforms. Only the Docklands Light Rail network and the Jubilee Line Extension are suitable for the unassisted wheelchair-using traveller.
Safety
As far as passengers are concerned, the London Underground has a good safety record. Although suicides are unfortunately common, these are dealt with quickly and with dignity. Surprisingly few accidents are caused by overcrowding on the platforms; one explanation suggested (presumably by people who have never actually visited London or the Tube) for this is that Londoners are too polite to push!However, for its own workers the record is less good. In January 2002 London Underground was fined £225,000 for breaching safety standards for workers. In court the judge said the company was "sacrificing safety" to keep the trains running "at all costs". He continued that the company, "despite the lip service they paid to health and safety issues, fell lamentably short of the proper safety standards and, objectively, simply ignored their obligations in this respect". Workers had been ordered to work in the rain, in the dark, while the track current was still switched on. (Source: BBC News)
The worst recent incident was a fire at King's Cross station on November 18, 1987, caused by a smouldering cigarette stub falling onto a wooden-tread escalator panel. Thirty-one people died in the fire, which prompted the phasing out of wooden escalators and prompted the prohibition of smoking throughout the system.
Iconography
The London Underground Roundel at Westminster (Large)London Transport's logo (shown above) and tube map are instantly recognizable by any Londoner, almost any Briton, and many people around the world.
The logo, as well as London Transport's distinctive sans-serif typeface, were designed by Edward Johnston, the former in 1913, the latter in 1916. Much of the reason for the widespread recognition of the London Transport logo is its ubiquitous usage on London Transport documents and signage. It is used for all tube station signs (where the station name appears on the horizontal bar), for example, as well as on in-carriage maps.
Tube Map
The tube map was designed by Harry Beck in 1931. See tube map for an in-depth analysis of its history and its topological nature.London Transport is known for taking legal action against unauthorized use of its trademarks, in spite of which unauthorized copies of the logo continue to crop up worldwide.
The Future
Privatisation
The London Underground is in a state of flux at the moment. Currently midway through partial privatisation, the system's maintenance is being taken over by two Infracos (Infrastructure Companies). These are Metronet and Tube Lines. It has been decided that Metronet will maintain the Bakerloo, Central, Victoria, the Waterloo & City, Circle, District, East London, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines. Tube Lines will handle the remainder: the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines.The aim of this "Public-Private Partnership" (PPP) is to accelerate investment in the sadly neglected aspects of the London Underground, commissioning new trains and installing safety features such as ATP, automatic train protection. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, is sceptical about the practicality of the PPP plan. However, he has dropped the legal challenge against PPP, and refurbishment works are expected to be carried out from end 2002 onwards.
Expansion
Further, plans are underway to extend the East London Line to both the North and the South; to the North, Shoreditch station will be abandoned, and, in a move that will bring the Underground to Hackney for the first time, the line will run on the old Broad Street viaduct to Hoxton, then to Highbury & Islington station to connect with the Victoria Line. Another branch may run on the same tracks as the North London Line to Willesden Junction. To the South, two branches are planned, running to Croydon and Wimbledon. These will transform the line from a small stub in the network to a major transport artery.
Cooling
In the summer weather, temperatures on the Tube can become very uncomfortable for passengers. Normal air conditioning has been ruled out becase of the lack of height to intall units on trains, and the problems of dipersing the heat generated. Heat pumps were proposed several years ago to overcome this, and following a successful demonstration in 2001 funds were given to the School of Engineering at London's South Bank University to develop a prototype; work began in April 2002. A cash reward of 100,000 pounds was offered by the Mayor of London in 2003 for a solution to the problem.
Underground stations
...and significant tube station content in:
- List of London Underground stations
- List of closed London Underground stations
- Bounds Green tube station
- Turnpike Lane tube station
- East Finchley tube station
- Finsbury Park tube station
- Tottenham Court Road tube station
- Dollis Hill tube station
- Notting Hill Gate tube station
- Charing Cross tube station
- London Bridge tube station
- Cannon Street tube station
- Embankment tube station
- Oval tube station
- Bethnal Green tube station
- Kings Cross fire
- Mornington Crescent
- Kings Cross station
- Marylebone railway station
- Liverpool Street station
- Paddington station
- Waterloo station
The Tube in fiction
(Please add to this list.)
- Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans (e-text)
- Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell): King Solomon's Carpet
- Geoff Ryman: 253
- Various episodes of the television series Doctor Who
- Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere
- James Herbert: The Rats
See also
- Crossrail
- Croydon Tramlink
- Docklands Light Railway
- London Post Office Railway and other features of Subterranean London
- Mind the gap
- National Rail
- Northern City Line
- Railtrack
- Transport for London
- Underground in other cities
- UK topics
External Links
- The official site of the Tube
- TubeGuru
- London Journey Planner
- Clive Feather's highly detailed Clive's Underground Line Guides
- nycsubway.org's Photographs of London Underground
- Richard's LU rolling stock page
- Disused Stations on London's Underground
- A very complete timeline
- The uk.railway newsgroup
- The London Tube Map Archive has a collection of Tube maps, showing the growth of the system and the changes in the style of the Underground map
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "London Underground."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
This page refers to urban rail mass transit systems. For other uses see metro (disambiguation).
Underground, subway and metro are common names for a form of mass transit public transport system employing small trains, these are also called in Britain tube trains. In many cases, at least a portion of the rails are placed in tunnels dug beneath the surface of a city. [1]
One definition of a "true" metro system is as follows:
This definition does not mention whether the train runs underground or above-ground. Since many such systems have above-ground portions, "metro" can be used as a generalized term that includes systems and system portions that are elevated or at grade (avoiding the necessarily subterranean connotations of "underground" or "subway".) In some cities, "subway" is used only for that portion of a particular system that actually is underground.
- an urban, electric mass transit system
- totally independent from other traffic
- with high service frequency.
For a more comprehensive listing of other names of this kind of system in cities around the world, see the list of metro systems.
The metro trains usually stop at short intervals to let passengers on or off. The volume of passengers a metro train can carry is often quite high, and a metro system is often viewed as the backbone of a large city's public transportation system.
Traditionally, metro trains are driven by human drivers, but automated trains also exist, in, for example, London (the Victoria Line), Singapore, and Paris. This is not a recent invention; operation of trains on the Victoria Line has been automatic since its opening in 1968. However, in common with most systems, an operator is still carried in a cab at the front of the train. The VAL (véhicule automatique léger) of Lille, inaugurated in 1983, provided the first driverless underground system. Other driverless lines now include the line 14 (Meteor) of the Paris Metro, opened in 1998. The Docklands Light Railway (1987) in London, whilst for the most part not underground, is also driverless. See also People mover.
The construction of an underground is an expensive project, often carried out over a number of years. Several modes of tunneling exist. One common method is to place the tracks directly beneath the city streets, upholding the roads by structural columns of steel, concrete, or, in the oldest systems, cast iron (most of the below-ground part of the New York Subway system is constructed in this manner, known as cut-and-cover). Another usual way is to dig the tunnels (often with tunnelling shield) beneath previously occupied subterranean space, through native bedrock, and seal the tunnels from leakage of ground water with concrete.
Underground systems use a variety of technologies. Most systems run on steel wheels and rails, although many modern systems use rubber tires and concrete rollways. (The Montreal metro was the first completely rubber-tired underground system.) Power may be supplied either by means of a third rail (New York) or by overhead lines (Madrid). Systems may be underground, at grade, elevated, or a mix as in the Paris metro. Some systems use light rail; other cities' systems are hybrids wherein a tramway moves underground in the city centre.
Underground systems need constant investment from the public authority, to avoid disasters like King's Cross fire in London's underground.
An exception to the rule that underground trains are for public transportation is the Post Office Railway, a driverless, underground railway in London that was used exclusively to transport mail between sorting offices, though it is now "mothballed".
History
The oldest subway tunnel in the world is the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel in Brooklyn, New York, built in 1844.The London Underground was the first more extensive system.
Boston has the oldest subway system in the United States, the green line.
Alfred Beach's first New York Subway system used a pneumatic tube principle. It was only 300 feet long.
A person with a devoted interest in these systems is a metrophile.
See also Metro station, U-Bahn.
External link
- metroPlanet
- Bucharest Metro, Romania
- "Mind the Gap"
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Metro."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
See:
This is a disambiguation page; that is, one that just points to other pages that might otherwise have the same name. If you followed a link here, you might want to go back and fix that link to point to the appropriate specific page.
- Metro (mass transit system)
- Organized crimes
- Underground culture
- Underground resistance
- Underground hip-hop subculture
- Underground (movie)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Underground."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Underground is a film directed by Emir Kusturica.The film won the 1995 Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival.
See also other uses of the term underground.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Underground (movie)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The term "underground comics" is used to describe the industry of self-published or small press comic books that sprang up in the 1960s and has continued to the current day. Underground comics are noted for their lack of corporate control, which gives them the freedom to publish stories about literally anything, including subjects that many readers would consider shocking and offensive. These comics are often the produced by a single person, as opposed to mainstream comics, which are usually produced by a team including a writer, a penciler, an inker, a letterer, and an editor.The initial wave of underground comics was written by and for the 1960s counter-culture and psychedelic movement, and a number of independent comics of this era were humorous (and unquestionably adult-oriented) stories about hippies and rebels who enjoyed the freedom of drugs, while putting up with persecution by evil police officers. As the genre grew and expanded, underground comics have ranged from small-press comics that grew to become mainstream (Elfquest and Cerebus the Aardvark), to comics created purely for artistic expression (Raw), to adult-oriented pornography and humor (Cherry Poptart and Xxxenophile). They have filled a creative niche left by the glut of superhero comic books published by mainstream companies such as DC and Marvel Comics.
The creators of underground comics have found various ways to publish their work without the backing of a major comic-book publisher. 'Mini-comics' are typically reproduced on a photocopier, hand-stapled and distributed by mail-order. More established creators can have their work published by one of the many small comics publishers (companies such as Fantagraphics Books, Rip-off Press, Slave Labor Graphics, Last Gasp and many others). The publishers also put together anthologies that collect short works from several different creators. More recently, there has been a surge of new creators posting their comics on the web, often for free or for a modest fee.
Some fans and artists use the term 'underground' comics to refer only to the first wave of independently produced comics, in the 1960s and 1970s. Later waves are sometimes referred to as 'independent', 'alternative', 'small press', or 'mini-' comics.
Notable Underground Comics
(Please add to the list)
- Acme Novelty Library (Chris Ware)
- Angry Youth Comics (Johnny Ryan)
- Air Pirates Comics (sparked famous copyright lawsuit from Disney)
- American Splendor (Harvey Pekar)
- Arcade (anthology edited by Bill Griffith and Art Spiegelman)
- Bad Boys (JR Williams)
- ''Blab (anthology)
- Doofus (Rick Altergott)
- Dork (Evan Dorkin)
- Drity Plotte (Julie Doucet)
- Dykes to Watch Out For (Alison Bechdel)
- Eightball (Daniel Clowes)
- Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers (Gilbert Sheldon)
- Hate, Neat Stuff (Peter Bagge)
- Hutch Owens (Tom Hart)
- Hup, Snoid, Self-loathing comics (Robert Crumb)
- Jimmy Corrigan (Chris Ware)
- King Cat Comics (John P)
- Love and Rockets (Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez)
- Johnny the Homicidal Maniac (Jhonen Vasquez)
- Low Jinx (anthology edited by Kurt Wolfgang)
- Optic Nerve (Adrian Tomine)
- Magic Whistle (Sam Henderson)
- Mickey Rat (Robert Armstrong)
- ''Naughty Bits (Roberta Gregory)
- Peep Show (Joe Matt)
- Raw (anthology edited by Art Spiegelman)
- Schizo (Ivan Brunetti)
- Steven (Doug Allen)
- Taboo (Eddie Campbell)
- Tank Girl (Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin)
- Underworld (Kaz)
- ''various Waldo comics (Kim Deitch)
- Weirdo (anthology edited by Robert Crumb, later by Peter Bagge, still later by Alaine Kominsky-Crumb)
- Yummy Fur (Chester Brown)
- Zap Comics (Robert Crumb, Spain, S. Clay Wilson, __________)
- Zero zero (anthology edited by Kim Thompsom)
- Zot (Scott McCloud)
- Various comics about German Queer culture by Ralf König
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Underground comics."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
During the 1960s the term underground acquired a new meaning in that it referred to members of the so-called counterculture, i.e. those people who did not necessarily conform to the mainstream of human experience such as e.g. hippies.Applied to the arts, the term underground typically means artists that are not corporately sponsored and don't generally want to be.
It can also mean that something is really groundbreaking and therefore is not mainstream.
Perhaps the best way to define it is a quote by Frank Zappa:
An alternate usage of the term "underground" is in reference to something that is illegal or so controversial that it would be dangerous for it to be publicized. Or it's so controversial (as in, offensive to societal norms) that it will never be mainstream. Some authors/artists use this as a badge of pride.
- "The mainstream comes to you, but you have to go to the underground."
Examples:
An underground club might have illicit drugs readily available.
A movie is banned because people might imitate the actions of the characters.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Underground culture."
Synonyms: UndergroundSynonyms: belowground (adj), clandestine (adj), cloak-and-dagger (adj), guerilla(a) (adj), guerrilla(a) (adj), hole-and-corner(a) (adj), hugger-mugger (adj), hush-hush (adj), irregular (adj), on the quiet(p) (adj), secret (adj), surreptitious (adj), undercover (adj), metro (n), resistance (n), subway (n), tube (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Concealment | Behind a screen; undercover, under an eclipse; in ambush, in hiding, in disguise; in a cloud, in a fog, in a mist, in a haze, in a dark corner; in the shade, in the dark; clouded, wrapped in clouds, wrapt in clouds; invisible; buried, underground, perdu; secluded. |
Depth | Adjective: deep, deep seated; profound, sunk, buried; submerged; subaqueous, submarine, subterranean, subterraneous, subterrene; underground. |
Latency Implication | Indirect, crooked, inferential; by inference, by implication; implicit; constructive; allusive, covert, muffled; steganographic; understood, underhand, underground; delitescent, concealed. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Underground |
| Specialty definitions using "underground": underground connections, underground exploration, underground fires, underground gasification, underground shaft, underground station, underground tank, underground workshop. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Underground" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. French (underground), Italian (underground), Spanish (underground). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to my underground lair (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; writing credit: Mike Myers.) Si. We go underground and spread sedition (Water; writing credit: Dick Clement; Ian La Frenais) I was in der Untergrund: the underground. (One, Two, Three; writing credit: Ferenc Molnár; Billy Wilder) I'm not the first guy who fell in love with a woman that he met at a restaurant who turned out to be the daughter of a kidnapped scientist only to lose her to her childhood lover who she last saw on a deserted island who then turned out fifteen years later to be the leader of the French underground. (Top Secret!; writing credit: Jim Abrahams; David Zucker) And you're walking around in underground garages telling people this because (Angel; writing credit: Letícia Dornelles) | |
Lyrics | Buried underground (Shine; performing artist: Cyndi Lauper) So I'm back, to the velvet underground (Gypsy; performing artist: Fleetwood Mac; writing credit: Stevie Nicks) Underground Talent Productions (I Hope You Dance; performing artist: LEE AN WOMACK) From the underground town down the hill (Hip-Hop Hooray; performing artist: Naughty By Nature) Running down underground to a dive bar (WEST END GIRLS; performing artist: Pet Shop Boys) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Underground Man (1974) Underground (1970) The Underground (1970) Underground (1969) 23/69: Underground Explosion (1969) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Underground magnetic observatory built at the University of Wisconsin in 1870's Built under direction of Coast Survey Observations made to Coast Survey specifications One of many academic geophysical observatories built under guidance of C&GS. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | A sinkhole in the Karst topography of northeast Iowa funnels runoff waters directly into an underground aquifer. The conservation buffer surrounding the sinkhole improves water quality by filtering the water from croplands. Credit: Tim McCabe. |
 | A contractor buries an underground outlet in a terrace system. Credit: Charlie Rahm. |  | Underground hardrock mining operations, Northern Nevada. Credit: Unknown. |
 | Underground mine / Lead mining operation near Viburnum, Missouri in the Mark Twain National Forest. Credit: Jerry Sintz. |  | Middlesex Hospital, London, England. : The underground operating theatre prepared for use during the second world war for the treatment of air raid casualties. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Vseobecna verejna nemocnice na Bulovce, Praha, Czechoslovakia, (Bulovka Municipal Hospital, Prague). : General view, with underground air raid shelter in the foreground. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Now, we next plan to put the river underground ... Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | The underground railroad / Chas. T. Webber. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Drilling underground. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "London underground" by Tanel Viksi Commentary: "Well, an escalator. :)." | "Underground" by Piotr P Commentary: "London, underground :)." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Homer | The Erinyes, who exact punishment of men underground if one swears a false oath. |
Miguel De Cervantes | Fear has many eyes and can see things underground. |
Thomas Carlyle | The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Jean Valjean found himself, with Marius still senseless, in a sort of long underground passage |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | Police also harassed and detained several underground church lay people in the Shanghai area. (references) | |
A power transmission project for 220 KV underground Cable is expected to be made public shortly. (references) | ||
Prior to the incident Bishop Fan had been conducting mass for hundreds of underground followers in his apartment. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Korea | There also are an undetermined number of persons belonging to underground Christian churches. (references) |
Uzbekistan | Yuldashev was sentenced to 19 years in prison for organizing an underground Islamic militant group. (references) | |
Korea | Members of underground churches connected to border missionary activity appear to be regarded as subversive elements. (references) | |
Economic History | Ireland | It has not yet been decided whether the trains will be monorail or underground. (references) |
Colombia | Most Colombian mines are open-pit, although there are some minor underground operations. (references) | |
South Africa | The ANC and PAC were forced underground and fought apartheid through guerrilla warfare and sabotage. (references) | |
Human Rights | China | However according to press reports, the campaign also has targeted some dissidents, separatists, and underground church members. (references) |
Iraq | A multistory underground detention and torture center reportedly was built under the general military hospital building close to the Al-Rashid military camp on the outskirts of Baghdad. (references) | |
France | Three members of the Armata Corsa, the Corsican underground movement, were killed in separate incidents; police initiated an investigation into their killings to determine if they were politically or criminally motivated since the three reportedly were involved in organized crime. (references) | |
Political Economy | China | However, the campaign also has targeted some dissidents, separatists, and underground church members. (references) |
Italy | Child labor, mainly involving immigrant children, continued in the underground economy but authorities investigated such reports actively. (references) | |
China | In some regions with high concentrations of Catholics, relations between the Government and the underground church loyal to the Vatican remained tense. (references) | |
Travel | Egypt | The Cairo Metro is a light rail system, partly underground. (references) |
Ghana | Underground cable connections may, however, cost about three times that of overhead cables. (references) | |
Women | Poland | Although women have access to a number of previously forbidden careers since the Labor Code was modified in 1996, they still are prevented from working underground or in jobs that require heavy lifting. (references) |
Worker Rights | Poland | As a result, the activity has been driven completely underground. (references) |
Kyrgyz Republic | However, minors younger than age 18 cannot work in underground conditions. (references) | |
Italy | The enforcement of minimum age or other child protection laws is difficult in the extensive underground economy. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | The strength of the Solidarity movement in Poland demonstrates the truth told in an underground joke in the Soviet Union. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Underground" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 50.58% of the time. "Underground" is used about 1,813 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 50.58% | 917 | 7,831 |
| Adverb (general) | 27.27% | 494 | 12,153 |
| Noun (singular) | 21.65% | 393 | 14,149 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.5% | 9 | 117,287 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,813 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "underground": go underground ♦ nuclear underground burst ♦ the underground ♦ underground activities ♦ underground cable ♦ underground car park ♦ underground conduit ♦ underground economy ♦ underground insurance ♦ underground line ♦ Underground Logistics System ♦ underground movement ♦ underground passage ♦ underground press ♦ underground railroad ♦ underground railway ♦ underground service entrance conductors ♦ underground station ♦ underground storehouse ♦ underground tank ♦ underground water. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "underground": underground-as, underground-br, underground-dwelling, underground-oriented. | |
Ending with "underground": ex-underground, proto-underground, rail-bus-underground, semi-underground. | |
Containing "underground": noise-grunge-new-wave-of-alternative-corporate-underground-anarcho-core-punk, reflected-sound-as-of-underground-spirits, reflected-sound-of-underground-spirits. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "underground"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | metro (metro, subway, train). (various references) | |
Arabic | قطار الأنفاق (train, tube), واقع تحت الأرض, حركة سرية, تحت الارض, سري (clandestine, classified, close, closet, confidential, covert, cryptic, discreet, furtive, hugger mugger, hush hush, inmost, low key, mysterious, mystic, occult, off the record, private, privy, sacramental, secret, slinking, stealthy, subterranean, surreptitious, umbilical, undercover, underhand), سرا (confidentially, in camera, in strict confidence, privately, secretly, stealthily, underhandedly). (various references) | |
Basque | metro (metre, subway, tube). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | съпротива (defence, defense, opposition, reluctance, resistance, stand), тайно (darkling, furtively, hugger mugger, in camera, in private, inwardly, on the quiet, on the sly, privately, privily, secretly, under the counter, under the rose, underhand, underhanded), таен (arcane, backdoor, clandestine, confidential, cryptic, dark, darkling, esoteric, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, hush hush, inside, mystic, occult, private, privy, recondite, secret, sensitive, sneaking, snug, surreptitious, undercover, underhand), нелегално движение, метро (metro, subway, tube), задкулисен (backstage, offstage, sharp), експериментаторско движение, експериментаторска група, подмолно (secretly, underhand), подмолен (factious, secret, seditious, subversive, surreptitious), подземна железница (subway, tube-railway), подземен (subterranean), под земята. (various references) | |
Chinese | 地下 (subterranean). (various references) | |
Czech | undergroundový, umìlecké podzemí, v podzemí, podzemní hnutí, podzemní dráha (subway), podzemní (subterranean, subterraneous), podzemí (the underground), pod zemí (below ground), pod zem, metro (subway), ilegalita (illegality), ilegální (clandestine, illegal, non-legal, unlawful), hlubinný (abyssal, deep sea), do podzemí. (various references) | |
Danish | underjordisk (below grade, subterranean), undergrundsbane (subway), undergrund (subsoil), baggrund (background). (various references) | |
Dutch | ondergronds (below grade), metro (subway). (various references) | |
Esperanto | subtera, metroo (subway). (various references) | |
Farsi | واقع درزیرزمین , زیرزمین (Basement, Cellar). (various references) | |
Finnish | maanalainen (subterranean). (various references) | |
French | souterrain (underpass), métro. (various references) | |
German | unterirdisch (subterranean), Untergrund (background, key, subfont, subsoil, substratum, undercoat), U-Bahn (subway, subwayUS, tube). (various references) | |
Greek | υπόγειος (subterranean). (various references) | |
Hawaiian | metro (subway). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מחתרתי, מחתרת (breach), תת קרקעי (subterranean), תחתי (lower), רכבת תחתית (metro, subway, tube). (various references) | |
Hungarian | földalatti (subterranean, subway), föld alatti (subterranean, subterraneous). (various references) | |
Indonesian | tersembunyi (hidden, latent, privy, reclusive), bawah tanah (subversive). (various references) | |
Italian | sotterraneo (basement, cellar, hypogeum, subterranean), sottosuolo (basement, subsoil). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 隠れ (crypto, hidden), 土中 (earth), 地下 (basement), 地下 (basement), 地中 (subterranean), アンザス条約 (Ancien Regime, andante, andante cantabile, andantino, angelus, antagonism, anthology, anti-, anti-establishment, antique, antique fashion, ANZUS Treaty, disliked, submarine pitch, under, under par, undercoat, underhand throw, underline, underpass, underplot, underproof, underscore, undershirt, underskill, underwear, undulation, United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia, UNTAC, untied loan, untouchable), アレカ椰子 (alexandrite, allegory, allegretto, allegro, allergen, allergy, alloc, allocate, allocation, aloe, aloha, aloha shirt, anchor, Anchorage, anchorman, ankh, anklet, areca palm, arrange, arrangement, arranger, arrow, hour, underground money). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | どちゅう (earth), かくれ (crypto, hidden), アンダーグラウンド , アングラ , ちか (basement, the price of land, under the rule of), ちちゅう (subterranean). (various references) | |
Korean | 지 (intelligent, subsurface). (various references) | |
Manx | keillit (cloaked, concealed, covert, furtive, hidden, secreted, veiled), follit (blind, blind of turning, bottled up, clandestine, classified, concealed, covert, cryptic, etc., etc.), hidden, hush-hush, latent, private, private and confidential, secret, secreted, veiled), fo-halloo (subterranean, surreptitious), dy keillit, dy follit (doggo, in camera, secretly). (various references) | |
Norwegian | undergrunnsbane (subway). (various references) | |
Occitan | metro (subway, tube). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ergroundunday.(various references) | |
Polish | podziemny. (various references) | |
Portuguese | subterrâneo (cave, subterranean, subterraneous). (various references) | |
Romanian | subteran (subterranean), subpãmântean (subterranean), sub pãmânt, secret (arcanum, close, confidential, cover, covertly, hidden, hugger mugger, internal, mysterious, mystery, occult, private, privy, quiet, reticence, secrecy, secret, secretly, ulterior, undisclosed, unspoken, untold), pe ascuns (behind one's back, by stealth, cagily, close, darkly, hugger mugger, stealthily), organizaţie ilegalã, mişcare ilegalã, metropolitan (metropolitan, subway, tube), ilegal (hot, illegal, lawless, subterranean, unauthorized by law, unlawful, unlawfully), conspirativ (clandestine, conspiratorial, conspiring, illegal, secret, secretly, subversive), ascuns (abstruse, backstairs, blind, cagey, close, concealed, covert, cryptic, dark, furtive, hidden, masked, mystic, occult, postern, privy, q.t., quiet, recondite, secluded, secret, secretive, self contained, sneaking, stealthy, sunken, ulterior, uncommunicative, underhand, undiscovered), în secret (close, in private, under rose). (various references) | |
Russian | тайный (arcane, backdoor, clandestine, cryptic, dark, esoteric, furtive, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, offscreen, private, privy, quiet, secret, sly, sneaking, stealthy, surreptitious, under the table, undercover, underhand, underhanded), метрополитен (Metro, tube), подземный (subterranean, subterraneous), подпольный, подполье. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | podzemni (subterranean, subterraneous), podzemna železnica (subway), podzemlje (underworld), metro (metro, subway), ilegalnost, ilegalno (illegally), ilegalan (illegal). (various references) | |
Spanish | metro (meter, metre, metro, rule, subway, tube), subterráneo (subterranean, subterraneous). (various references) | |
Swedish | underjordisk (hard, infernal, subterranean), tunnelbana (railway, subway, tube, underground railway). (various references) | |
Turkish | yeraltında, yeraltı geçidi (heading, underpass), yeraltı dünyası (gangland, underworld), yeraltı (subterranean, subterraneous, undersoil), yeni akıma ait, yeni akım, toprakaltı (subsoil, undersoil), toprak altındaki (subterranean, subterraneous), metro (metro, subway, tube), gizlice (by devious means, by stealth, clandestinely, confidentially, furtively, in privacy, in private, in secret, on the quiet, on the sly, secretly, sub rosa, under the counter, under the rose), gizli örgüt, gizli (arcane, back door, blind, camera, clandestine, classified, closet, concealed, confidential, covert, cryptic, cryptical, crypto-, disguised, esoteric, furtive, hidden, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, huggermugger, hush hush, inner, intimate, latent, masked, occult, perdu, Perdue, private, privy, quiet, restricted, sealed, secluded, secret, secretly, slinky, sneaking, sneakingly, sneaky, snug, stealthy, sub rosa, submerged, submersed, subterranean, subterraneous, surreptitious, ulterior, under cover, underarm, undercover, underhand, underhanded, undisclosed, unsearchable, unseen), altgeçít (subway), alt geçit (subway, underpass). (various references) | |
Turkmen | яerasty. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | таємно (behind the back, hugger mugger, occultly, secretly, sub rosa, under hand, underhand), метрополітен, підгрунтя (subsoil, substratum), підземний (subterranean, subterraneous), підпільний (clandestine), підпілля, під землею (underfoot). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | sự chống đối ngầm, phong trào bí mật, ngầm kín, khoảng dưới mặt đất xe điện ngầm, dưới đất, bí mật (backstairs, clandestine, close, cryptic, cryptically, hush-hush, inward, inwards, private, subterranean, subterraneous, surreptitious, undercover). (various references) | |
Welsh | tanddaearol (subterranean). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | cisterna, cisternae, cisternam, cisternas, cisternis, inferni, inferno, infernum, infernus, subterraneus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "underground": undergrounder, undergrounders, undergrounds. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "underground" (pronounced u"ndergrou'nd) |
| 5 | -g r ou' n d | background, battleground, campground, fairground, foreground, playground. |
| 4 | -r ou' n d | runaround. |
| 3 | -ou' n d | earthbound, eastbound, foxhound, greyhound, hidebound, homebound, horehound, outbound, snowbound, southbound, spellbound, turnaround, westbound. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-d-e-g-n-n-o-r-r-u-u" | |
-1 letter: ungrounded. | |
-2 letters: unrounded. | |
-3 letters: grounded, grounder, reground, runround, underdog, undergod, underrun, unground. | |
-4 letters: dendron, donnerd, drudger, dudgeon, dungeon, guerdon, nondrug, redound, rondure, rounded, rounder, underdo, undergo, unround, unurged. | |
-5 letters: dodger, donned, dourer, drogue, droned, droner, drudge, dunged, dunned, dunner, durned, enduro, gerund, gourde, ground, guenon, gunned, gunner, neuron, nodder, nudged, nudger, ordure, rogued, rouged, rudder. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-d-e-g-n-n-o-r-r-u-u" | |
+1 letter: undergrounds. | |
+2 letters: undergrounder. | |
+3 letters: undergrounders. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Quotations: Speeches | 13. Usage Frequency 14. Expressions 15. Expressions: Internet 16. Translations: Modern | 17. Translations: Ancient 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
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