English Dictionary

SUBTERRANEOUS

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

 Dictionary entry overview: What does subterraneous mean? 

SUBTERRANEOUS (adjective)
  The adjective SUBTERRANEOUS has 2 senses:

1. being or operating under the surface of the earthplay

2. lying beyond what is openly revealed or avowed (especially being kept in the background or deliberately concealed)play

  Familiarity information: SUBTERRANEOUS used as an adjective is rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


SUBTERRANEOUS (adjective)


Sense 1

Meaning:

Being or operating under the surface of the earth

Synonyms:

subterranean; subterraneous

Context example:

a subsurface flow of water

Similar:

subsurface (beneath the surface)


Sense 2

Meaning:

Lying beyond what is openly revealed or avowed (especially being kept in the background or deliberately concealed)

Synonyms:

subterranean; subterraneous; ulterior

Context example:

looked too closely for an ulterior purpose in all knowledge

Similar:

covert (secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed)


 Context examples 


What! Not when Dorothy has given you to understand that there is a secret subterraneous communication between your apartment and the chapel of St. Anthony, scarcely two miles off?

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"Beggars can't be choosers." (English proverb)

"If heat is applied to iron long enough it will melt; if cold is applied to water long enough it will freeze." (Bhutanese proverb)

"Blind bear picks corn, picks one and throws one." (Chinese proverb)

"Hunger drives the wolf from its den." (Corsican proverb)



ALSO IN ENGLISH DICTIONARY:


© 2000-2023 AudioEnglish.org | AudioEnglish® is a Registered Trademark | Terms of use and privacy policy
Contact