undercurrentn.adj.
/ˈʌndəˌkʌrənt/, /ˈʌndəˌkʌrn̩t/, U.S. /ˈəndərˌkərənt/ 1.
a. A stream or current of water, air, etc., flowing beneath the upper current, or below the surface. Also figurative of Time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > current > [noun] > under-current
underwork1610
underflood?1615
undercurrent1684
underset1815
undertow1817
subcurrent1822
underdrift1849
under-draught1853
underflow1854
under-water1859
undercarry1894
underrun1894
turbidity current1939
the world > matter > gas > air > moving air > [noun] > a movement of air > a current of air > lower current
undercurrent1878
1684 T. Smith in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 14 565 My conjecture is, that there is an under-current, whereby as great a quantity of water is carried out, as comes flowing in.
1687 J. Norris Coll. Misc. (1699) 110 Time shall no more her under-current know, But one with great Eternity shall grow; Their streams shall mix.
1763 Philos. Trans. 1762 (Royal Soc.) 52 448 Recourse is had to the notion of an under-current.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 181 The descending water sinks down and forms an under~current.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) xx. 346 Part of this air then returns as an undercurrent.
b. In hydraulic gold-mining, a settling-box additional to the main sluice.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > other places in mine
work1474
firework1606
stemple1653
stool1653
bink1675
engine pit1687
swamp1691
feeder1702
wall1728
bag1742
sill1747
stope1747
rose cistern1778
striking-house1824
plat1828
stemplar1828
screen chamber1829
offtake1835
footwall1837
triple pit1839
stamp1849
paddock1852
working floor1858
pit house1866
ground-sluice1869
screen tower1871
planilla1877
undercurrent1877
mill1878
blanket-sluice1881
stringing-deal1881
wagon-breast1881
brushing-bed1883
poppet-leg1890
slippet1898
stable1906
overcut1940
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 95 The company has this season added a series of under-currents near the point where the washings empty into the river.
2. figurative. An activity, force, tendency, etc., of a suppressed or underlying character.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > [noun] > hidden tendency or activity
under-water1618
undercurrent1792
undertow1817
underplay1845
underswell1849
nigger in the fence1850
nigger in the woodpile1852
underflow1854
—— in the woodpile1857
undernote1857
undertone1861
underdrift1891
under-belly1962
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > [noun] > underlying tendency or undercurrent
ground bass1699
undercurrent1792
underdrift1891
1792 A. Young Trav. France 557 A most curious political combination, which seems to shew, that..where evils are of the most alarming tendency, there is a re-action, an under-current, that works against the apparent tide, and brings relief.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biographia Literaria I. i. 23 Our genuine admiration of a great poet is a continuous under-current of feeling.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xvi. 115 That undercurrent of emotion which surrounds the question of one's personal safety.
1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 371 That gift of humour, that genuine under-current of the soul.
3. attributive or as adj. That runs or flows out of sight; concealed, hidden; suppressed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > [adjective] > of feelings, etc.
smothered1607
stifleda1643
smouldering1817
bottled1840
undercurrent1855
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xviii. viii, in Maud & Other Poems 61 My heart more blest than heart can tell, Blest, but for some dark undercurrent woe.
1896 Daily News 9 Apr. 3/2 There was a good deal of under-current protest.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1684