below
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɪˈləʊ/
ipa: /bɪˈloʊ/
rhymes: -əʊ
Etymology: From Middle English bilooghe, equivalent to be- + low. Compare also earlier Middle English alogh, alow, aloȝ, alowe (“below”), benethen (“beneath”), Dutch omlaag (“downwards”).
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
text: The treasure is buried two meters below the surface.
text: The marmalade is on the shelf below the bread.
glosses: Lower in spatial position than.
examples: text: one degree below kings
ref: 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
text: 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.
ref: 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:
text: The temperature is below zero.
text: Liverpool are below Manchester City in the Premier League.
glosses: Lower than in value, price, rank, concentration, etc.
examples: text: The River Thames is tidal below Teddington Lock.
glosses: Downstream of.
examples: text: Sudan is below Egypt.
glosses: South of.
examples: text: They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, […] how below all history the persons and their actions were.
ref: 1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC:
text: who thinks no fact below his regard
ref: 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
text: Such petty behavior is below me.
glosses: Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of; beneath.
examples: text: Below the sofa is a low, round coffee table.
ref: 1952, Frederick Knott, Dial "M" for Murder, 1954 Dramatists Play Service acting edition, act 1, scene 1
qualifier: stage directions
glosses: Downstage of.
Synonyms: sense: lower in spatial position than
word: beneath
sense: lower in spatial position than
word: under
sense: lower in spatial position than
word: underneath
sense: lower in value than
word: under
sense: downstream of
word: downstream
sense: unsuitable to the rank or dignity of
word: beneath
Derived terms: bag below one's eye
bag below the eye
below the belt
below the law
below the mahogany