below decks
4
4.6
- adverb
:
debajo de la cubierta
- We have to stay below decks for a while.
- trapped below decks
- cabins below decks
- stayed below decks
I threw up in the Hatch, went down the ladder and I'm looking inside, down below decks and behind me comes this voice that says, have you ever had sex on this boat?
- I threw up in the Hatch, went down the ladder and I'm looking inside, down below decks and behind me comes this voice that says, have you ever had sex on this boat?
Examples
-
"Riesz nodded and followed the others below decks."
Fiction book (1992) -
Let's get those crates below decks.
-
We found this below decks.
-
I know the men who work above and below decks.
Fiction book (1996) -
No, I was stationed in the repair shop below decks.
-
We must hide below decks before the other passengers arrive.
-
The men start to scramble below decks.
Fiction book (1992) -
All hands below decks.
-
Get everything below decks.
-
The crew had to remain below decks during the storm to ensure their safety.
Synonyms
1
8.6
In the space below the main deck and above the lower deck on a ship
In the space between a ship's decks used for cargo or people
How High
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'in the area beneath the main deck of a ship' is a direct, literal combination of 'below' (at a lower position) and 'deck(s)' (the ship's platform), so the locative sense is immediately inferable. This is a straightforward compositional locative phrase found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
Below decks originally described places under a ship's main deck. To be below the deck meant you were in cabins or storage under the floor, so it still means 'in the area beneath the main deck'.