subterreneadj.n.

1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God x. ix. 372 Sixe kindes of Dæmones. First the fiery,..5. the subterrene [L. subterraneum], that liue in caues.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 302 The earth is full of subterrene fires.

1696 T. Robinson New Observ. Nat. Hist. i. vii. 26 As the Waters sank down towards the Centre, they press'd together the several Strata or Layers of Stones, Mines, Minerals and other Subterrene Earths.

1730 R. Holt Short Treat. Artific. Stone 47 A Man of the..most extensive Knowledge, perfectly well vers'd in the Qualities of all Terrene and Subterrene Bodies.

1769 J. Wallis Nat. Hist. Northumberland I. xii. 411 The Badger..provides itself a subterrene dwelling.

1829 I. Taylor Nat. Hist. Enthusiasm ix. 228 Those dungeons of dimness,..those labyrinths of subterrene communication.

1878 R. A. Proctor Pleasant Ways Sci. (1879) ix. 181 The activity thus exhibited..had its origin in the same subterrene or submarine region as the Peruvian earthquake.

1927 Times 16 Dec. 17/5 Here they [sc. mountains]..stand,..by the sculpturing hand of subterrene upheaval, carved from chaos.

1954 W. Faulkner Fable 410 A smell subterrene and claustrophobe and doomed to darkness.

1997 B. Lumley Burrowers Beneath in Titus Crow I. 36 Are the shocks which cause the ever-present quiverings of the seismograph stylus merely the traces of some vast, subterrene cataclysm a thousand miles deep?

1809 C. A. Elton tr. Hesiod Remains 171 Jove subterrene, chaste Ceres claim thy vow, When, grasping first the handle of the plough.

1836 I. Taylor Physical Theory of Another Life xvi. 219 (note) The three great orders of the intelligent economy—the heavenly, the earthly, and the subterrene.

1858 E. Caswall Poems 80 Dread Angels subterrene Mighty in works of ill.

1918 T. Wearing World-view of Fourth Gospel ii. 25 There is a constant clashing of forces between the spirit of the overworld and the spirit of the underworld... The sinister sway of the subterrene spirit extends over the entire structure.

a1711 T. Ken Hymnarium 127 in Wks. (1721) II. Shew me the Gulph, that's fix'd between The upper Hades, and the sub-terrene.

1793 L. P. Rosse Thoughts Liberty & Equality 49 The great and discordant agents of nature meet in a hollow subterrene, and contend for sway, and shake the earth and ocean with their conflict.

1827 G. Griffin Tales Munster Festivals I. 143 The whole party were presently gliding under the cliffs at the Head, on their way to the caverns..to explore the mazes of the gloomy subterrene.

1854 S. T. Dobell Balder xviii. 75 Have we shut thee forth, poor child, And wist not of thy journey, nor the end And exit of that gloomy subterrene Which thou didst enter?

a1876 J. Addis Elizabethan Echoes (1879) 94 Th' uncertain hum Of hosts upsweeping from the subterrene.

1918 H. B. Fuller On the Stairs 147 The cellars, a vast subterrene, with dusky avenues of lockers.

1951 R. Bradbury City in Illustr. Man 225 In the electric subterrene of the city the Mind at last totaled out its grandest total.

2003 P. Wright Attending Daedalus ii. vi. 92 Instead of carrying matches on his journey into the subterrene, Severian bears the Claw of the Conciliator.

1956 A. C. Clarke City & Stars i. 6 With a deafening screech of metal upon rock..the subterrene smashed through the wall and came to rest beside them.

1971 E. S. Robinson et al. Prelim. Study Nucl. Subterrene (U. S. Atomic Energy Comm. Los Alamos Sci. Lab., Rep. No. LA4547) 2/1 Combining the three major components—a refractory rock-melting tool, a nuclear reactor, and a system of heat pipes—into a large, rock-melting penetrator called a Nuclear Subterrene would be a natural extension of existing LASL technology, talents, and scientific interests.

1973 New Scientist 1 Nov. 356/1 The Subterrene has the potential of saving large amounts of time and money for projects as large as the English Channel tunnel.

1995 R. Sauder Underground Bases & Tunnels vi. 99 The government commissioned such a lengthy and detailed analysis of the cost of operating nuclear subterrenes.

2009 J. Axler Warlord of Pit xi. 131 There were several different types of Subterrenes, but the largest and most efficient operated by melting its way through rock and soil,..leaving a neat, solid-glass-lined tunnel behind it.