💸 To fail 🌊 To sink 🆔 To use a name

to go under

15 4.4

Sink below the water and become covered by it

phrasal verb
/ɡoʊ ˈʌndər/

: hundirse

As the storm intensified, the ship began to take on water, and soon it went under completely.
go under the water
boat went under
go under the surface

Examples

During the heavy rainfall, the river surged and many cars went under the rising water.
Do I have to go under the water?

Home Invasion (2012)
Once the two went under, though, they never came back up.

Fiction book (1994)
I would like to take one last breath before we go under.

Hunter Killer (2018)
The water of the pool was warmer than she had expected when she went under, though it was very deep.

Fiction book (2000)
He went under the water.

Breakthrough (2019)
The wave overturned the boat and all its occupants went under.

Academic text (2009)
As she went under, the bone-deep cold penetrated the last of her warmth.

Fiction book (1992)
He struggled to stay afloat, but despite his efforts, he eventually went under.

Synonyms

to sink

vsto go under

258 1.0

To go down below the surface of water and become underwater

is a phrasal expression used instead of the single verb form

to go down

vsto go under

84 3.8

To sink into water, like a boat that hits something

is used for moving downward under the water in many contexts

to submerge

vsto go under

42 3.9

To put something completely under water or another liquid

is about natural downward movement into a liquid rather than being placed there

to sink like a stone

vsto go under

Informal

2 6.7

Fall or fail very quickly and completely

is general downward movement into water without implying rapid speed

to submerse

vsto go under

1 7.3

To put something under the surface of water

is about going below a liquid surface by falling naturally

Antonyms

to float

645 1.0

To stay or move on water without sinking, sometimes in the air

How Deep

to go under

15 4.4

to plunge

56 4.2

to sink

258 1.0

Surface Forms

go under infinitive

going under present participle

goes under third person singular

went under past

gone under past participle

Morphology

go + under

The meaning 'to be known or called by a particular name' is not directly derivable from the literal senses of 'go' (to become) and 'under' (beneath/experiencing a state); the phrase relies on the idiomatic pattern 'go under the name (of)'. There is a partial metaphorical link (being 'under' a label), but the specific sense of adopting/being known by an alternate name is a fixed usage that B1 learners who only know the constituents would not reliably predict without exposure.

Etymology

Go under gives a simple picture: something moves down and goes below the water, like a small boat that fills with water and sinks. That's why it means 'to sink'.