underground
9
7.9
- noun
- /ˈʌndərˌɡraʊnd/
:
resistencia
- During World War II, he played a key role in the resistance known as the underground against German forces.
He was caught hiding out in the Cuban underground.
- He was caught hiding out in the Cuban underground.
Examples
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Many brave individuals joined the underground movement to fight against the oppressive regime.
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But we keep getting reports from the Dutch underground.
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The name might have changed, but the criminal underground was the same.
Fiction book (1991) -
You people have no idea of the extent of the underground in your own city, do you?
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The underground are slipping him across the channel tonight.
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You're not the member of the underground?
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Connections to be made, a whole underground to be mobilized.
Fiction book (2002) -
Back when I was a fugitive, part of the underground.
Fiction book (2001) -
Many became involved in Colombia's criminal underground in search of fast money, and often perished in the process.
Blog text (23) -
But the Norwegian underground had gotten wind of the shipment and planted a bomb aboard the ferry.
Academic text (2012)
Synonyms
412
5.5
Armed action by a group against an enemy or occupying force
32
8.9
A secret group that plans together to gain power, often in politics
6
8.9
A secret group of people who stay inactive until told to attack or spy
2
6.5
A group of armed fighters who use sudden attacks against a larger army in rural areas
1
5.1
A group of people who try to change or remove a government by force
Compounds
8
4.1
Secret network that helped enslaved people escape to free states and Canada
1
7.5
A group of musicians and artists who work outside the mainstream, often in secret
A secret U.S. network that helped enslaved people escape to free states or Canada before the Civil War
How Secret
Surface Forms
Morphology
underground = underground (opaque) = under + ground
Although the form is built from 'under' + 'ground', the sense 'secret organization' depends on a metaphorical shift to covert activity and is not predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Underground as a noun can mean a secret group because it suggests working under ('below') the ground ('the earth') and therefore out of sight. That's why an 'underground' organization hides its activities while it works against the government.