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Webster 1913 Edition


Below

Be-low′

,
p
rep.
[Pref.
be-
by +
low
.]
1.
Under, or lower in place; beneath not so high;
as,
below
the moon;
below
the knee
.
Shak.
2.
Inferior to in rank, excellence, dignity, value, amount, price, etc.; lower in quality.
“One degree below kings.”
Addison.
3.
Unworthy of; unbefitting; beneath.
They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, . . . how
below
all history the persons and their actions were.
Milton.
Who thinks no fact
below
his regard.
Hallam.
Syn. – Underneath; under; beneath.

Be-low′

,
adv.
1.
In a lower place, with respect to any object; in a lower room; beneath.
Lord Marmion waits
below
.
Sir W. Scott.
2.
On the earth, as opposed to the heavens.
The fairest child of Jove
below
.
Prior.
3.
In hell, or the regions of the dead.
What business brought him to the realms
below
.
Dryden.
4.
In court or tribunal of inferior jurisdiction;
as, at the trial
below
.
Wheaton.
5.
In some part or page following.

Webster 1828 Edition


Below

BELOW

, prep. [be and low] Under in place; beneath; not so high; as, below the moon; below the knee.
1.
Inferior in rank, excellence or dignity.
2.
Unworthy of; unbefitting.

BELOW

,
adv.
In a lower place, with respect to any object; as, the heavens above and the earth below.
1.
On the earth, as opposed to the heavens.
The fairest child of Jove below.
2.
In hell, or the region of the dead; as the realms below.
3.
In a court of inferior jurisdiction; as, at the trial below.

Definition 2024


below

below

See also: bellow

English

Preposition

below

A square below a circle
  1. Lower in spatial position than.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
    The treasure is buried two meters below the surface.
  2. Lower in value, price, rank or concentration than.
    • Addison
      one degree below kings
    • 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:
      Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.
    The temperature is below zero.
  3. Downstream of.
  4. South of.
  5. Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of; beneath.
    • John Milton
      They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, [] how below all history the persons and their actions were.
    • Hallam
      who thinks no fact below his regard
    Such petty behavior is below me.
  6. (stage directions) Downstage of.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations

Derived terms

Adverb

below (not comparable)

  1. In a lower place.
    • 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher, chapter1:
      But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ [] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, [].
  2. On a lower storey.
  3. Further down.
  4. (nautical) On a lower deck.
    the landlubbers lying down below
  5. (of a temperature) Below zero.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations

Derived terms

Look at pages starting with below.

References

  • Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The vertical axis", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: man's · write · caught · #652: below · window · instead · giving

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