undertow
4
7.4
- noun
- /ˈʌndərˌtoʊ/
- I couldn't swim, so I just went wading... but I got caught in the undertow... and before I knew what was happening... it sucked me under.
- a strong undertow
- caught in the undertow
- pulled by an undertow
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Watch on YouTubeBut it's better than like, you know, an undertow where the water goes back out the other way, which isn't exactly what happened either.
- But it's better than like, you know, an undertow where the water goes back out the other way, which isn't exactly what happened either.
- Still the loss of and a toy crossing the undertow and downriver.
Examples
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There's a dangerous undertow, and there was a man drowned here last year.
-
Then her own legs were caught by the undertow, and she disappeared.
Fiction book (1993) -
Yeah, and then the undertow will take you three miles that way.
-
The undertow, it could carry him out to sea.
-
And the undertow was taking her out.
Fiction book (1998) -
The undertow is just strong enough to hold me down.
Fiction book (1994) -
Watch out for the undertow!
-
Be careful of the undertow!
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By the time I came up sputtering, the undertow had already pulled the car twenty meters out to sea.
Fiction book (1997) -
The lifeguard warned us about the undertow, explaining how it could pull us out to sea.
Synonyms
10
8.4
A strong fast current in water that pulls swimmers away
7
8.2
A strong sea current that pulls swimmers away from the shore
2
6.0
A strong narrow flow of water moving from the shore out to sea that can pull swimmers away
1
6.1
A backward flow of water behind a moving boat that rocks small boats
1
6.5
A flow of water under the surface that moves in a different direction
A strong flow that pulls swimmers away from the shore after waves break
A strong current that pulls water and swimmers away from the shore after waves break
A strong current that pulls swimmers away from a beach after waves break
A strong flow of water that pulls away from the shore after waves break
A strong current that pulls swimmers away from the shore after waves break
A flow of water below the surface that carries sand or silt
A current of water that flows under the surface
Water moving back toward the sea after a wave or boat passes
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word undertow comes from under 'below' and tow 'pull', like a tow truck that pulls a car. So an undertow is a hidden, strong current under the water that can pull swimmers out to sea.