Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

under|fi|nanced /ʌ ndə ^r fa I nænst/ also under-financed ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] Underfinanced means the same as underfunded . □  From the beginning, the project was underfinanced.

under|foot /ʌ ndə ^r fʊ t/

1 ADV [ADV after v, n ADV ] You describe something as being underfoot when you are standing or walking on it. □  …a room, high and square with carpet underfoot and tapestries on the walls. □  It was still wet underfoot.

2 ADV [ADV after v] If you trample or crush something underfoot , you spoil or destroy it by stepping on it. □  …a mobile phone that has been crushed underfoot.

under|fund|ed /ʌ ndə ^r fʌ nd I d/ also under-funded ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] An organization or institution that is underfunded does not have enough money to spend, and so it cannot function properly. □  For years we have argued that the health service is underfunded. □  …underfunded pensions.

under|gar|ment /ʌ ndə ^r gɑː ^r mənt/ (undergarments ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] Undergarments are items of clothing that you wear next to your skin and under your other clothes. [OLD-FASHIONED ]

under|go /ʌ ndə ^r goʊ / (undergoes , undergoing , underwent , undergone ) VERB If you undergo something necessary or unpleasant, it happens to you. □ [V n] New recruits have been undergoing training in recent weeks. □ [V n] He underwent an agonising 48-hour wait for the results of tests.

under|grad /ʌ ndə ^r græd/ (undergrads ) N‑COUNT An undergrad is the same as an undergraduate . [INFORMAL ]

under|gradu|ate /ʌ ndə ^r græ dʒuət/ (undergraduates ) N‑COUNT [oft N n] An undergraduate is a student at a university or college who is studying for his or her first degree. □  Economics undergraduates are probably the brightest in the university. □  …undergraduate degree programmes.

under|ground ◆◇◇ The adverb is pronounced /ʌ ndə ^r graʊ nd/. The noun and adjective are pronounced /ʌ ndə ^r graʊnd/. 1 ADV [ADV after v] Something that is underground is below the surface of the ground. □  Solid low-level waste will be disposed of deep underground. □  The plane hit so hard that one engine was buried 16 feet underground. ● ADJ [ADJ n] Underground is also an adjective. □  …a run-down shopping area with an underground car park. □  …underground water pipes.

2 N‑SING [oft by N ] The underground in a city is the railway system in which electric trains travel below the ground in tunnels. [BRIT ] □  …a woman alone in the underground waiting for a train. □  He crossed London by underground. in AM, use subway 3 N‑SING In a country which is controlled by an enemy or has a harsh government, the underground is an organized group of people who are involved in illegal activities against the people in power. □  These U.S. dollars were smuggled into the country during the war, to aid the underground.

4 ADJ [ADJ n] Underground groups and activities are secret because their purpose is to oppose the government and they are illegal. □  They are accused of organising and financing an underground youth movement.

5 ADV [ADV after v] If you go underground , you hide from the authorities or the police because your political ideas or activities are illegal. □  After the violent clashes of 1981 they either went underground or left the country.

under|growth /ʌ ndə ^r groʊθ/ N‑UNCOUNT Undergrowth consists of bushes and plants growing together under the trees in a forest. [BRIT ] □  …plunging through the undergrowth. in AM, use underbrush

under|hand /ʌ ndə ^r hæ nd/ or underhanded /ʌ ndə ^r hæ ndid/