Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

UNDECK — UNDERMOST

UNDECK, v.t. To divest of ornaments.

UNDECKED, pp.

1. Deprived of ornaments.

2. a. Not decked; not adorned.

UNDECLARED, a. Not declared; not avowed.

UNDECLINABLE, a.

1. That cannot be declined.

2. Not to be avoided.

UNDECLINED, a.

1. Not deviating; not turned from the right way.

2. Not varied in termination; as a noun undeclined.

UNDECOMPOSABLE, a. s as z. Not admitting decomposition; that cannot be decomposed.

UNDECOMPOSED, a. s as z. Not decomposed; not separated; as constituent particles.

UNDECOMPOUNDED, a. Not decompounded.

UNDECORATED, a. Not adorned; not embellished; plain.

To leave the character of Christ undecorated, to make its own impression.

UNDEDICATED, a.

1. Not dedicated; not consecrated.

2. Not inscribed to a patron.

UNDEEDED, a.

1. Not signalized by any great action.

2. Not transferred by deed; as undeeded land. [Local.]

UNDEFACEABLE, a. That cannot be defaced.

UNDEFACED, a. Not deprived of its form; not disfigured; as an undefaced statue.

UNDEFEASIBLE, a. s as z. Not defeasible. [But indefeasible is chiefly used.]

UNDEFENDED, a.

1. Not defended; not protected.

2. Not vindicated.

3. Open to assault; being without works of defense.

UNDEFIED, a. Not set at defiance; not challenged.

UNDEFILED, a. Not defiled; not polluted; not vitiated.

UNDEFINABLE, a.

1. Not definable; not capable of being described or limited; as the undefinable bounds of space.

2. That cannot be described by interpretation or definition.

Simple ideas are undefinable.

UNDEFINABLENESS, n. The quality or state of being undefinable.

UNDEFINED, a.

1. Not defined; not described by definition or explanation.

2. Not having its limits described.

UNDEFLOURED, a. Not debauched; not vitiated.

UNDEFORMED, a. Not deformed; not disfigured.

UNDEFRAUDED, a. Not defrauded.

UNDEFRAYED, a. Not defrayed; not paid.

UNDEGRADED, a. Not degraded.

UNDEIFY, v.t. To reduce from the state of Deity.

UNDELEGATED, a. Not delegated; not deputed; not granted; as undelegated authority; undelegated powers.

UNDELIBERATED, a. Not carefully considered; as an undeliberated measure. [Not correct.]

UNDELIBERATING, a. Not deliberating; not hesitating; hasty; prompt.

UNDELIGHTED, a. Not delighted; not well pleased.

UNDELIGHTFUL, a. Not giving delight or great pleasure.

UNDELIVERED, a. Not delivered; not communicated.

UNDEMANDED, a. Not demanded; not required.

UNDEMOLISHED, a.

1. Not demolished; not pulled down.

2. Not destroyed.

UNDEMONSTRABLE, a.

1. Not capable of fuller evidence.

2. Not capable of demonstration.

UNDENIABLE, a. That cannot be denied; as undeniable evidence.

UNDENIABLY, adv. So plainly as to admit no contradiction or denial.

UNDEPENDING, a. Not dependent.

UNDEPLORED, a. Not lamented.

UNDEPOSABLE, a. s as z. That cannot be deposed from office.

UNDEPRAVED, a. Not corrupted; not vitiated.

UNDEPRECATED, a. Not deprecated.

UNDEPRECIATED, a. Not depreciated; not lowered in value.

UNDEPRIVED, a. Not deprived; not divested of by authority; not stripped of any possession.

UNDER, prep.

1. Beneath; below; so as to have something over or above. He stood under a tree; the carriage is under cover. We may see things under water; we have a cellar under the whole house.

2. In a state of pupilage or subjection; as a youth under a tutor; a ward under a guardian; colonies under the British government.

I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. Matthew 8:9.

3. In a less degree than. The effect of medicine is sometimes under and sometimes above or over its natural strength.

4. For less than. He would not sell the horse under forty pounds.

5. Less than; below. There are parishes in England under forty pounds a year.

6. With the pretense of; with the cover or pretext of. He does this under the name of love. This argument is not to be evaded under some plausible distinction.

7. With less than.

Several young men could never leave the pulpit under half a dozen conceits.

8. In a degree, state or rank inferior to.

It was too great an honor for any man under a duke.

9. In a state of being loaded; in a state of bearing or being burdened; as, to travel under a heavy load; to live under extreme oppression.

10. In a state of oppression or subjection to, the state in which a person is considered as bearing or having any thing laid upon him; as, to have fortitude under the evils of life; to have patience under pain, or under misfortunes; to behave like a christian under reproaches and injuries.

11. In a state of liability or obligation. No man shall trespass but under the pains and penalties of the law. Attend to the conditions under which you enter upon your office. We are under the necessity of obeying the laws. Nuns are under vows of chastity. We all lie under the curse of the law, until redeemed by Christ.

12. In the state of bearing and being known by; as men trading under the firm of Wright & Co.

13. In the state of; in the enjoyment or possession of. We live under the gospel dispensation.

14. During the time of. The American revolution commenced under the administration of lord North.

15. Not having reached or arrived to; below. He left three sons under age.

16. Represented by; in the form of. Morpheus is represented under the figure of a boy asleep. [But morph, in Ethiopic, signifies cessation, rest.]

17. In the state of protection or defense. Under favor of the prince, our author was promoted. The enemy landed under cover of their batteries.

18. As bearing a particular character.

The duke may be mentioned under the double capacity of a poet and a divine.

19. Being contained or comprehended in.

Under this head may be mentioned the contests between the popes and the secular princes.

20. Attested by; signed by. Here is a deed under his hand and seal.

He has left us evidence under his own hand.

21. In a state of being handled, treated or discussed, or of being the subject of. The bill is now under discussion. We shall have the subject under consideration next week.

22. In subordination to. Under God, this is our only safety.

23. In subjection or bondage to; ruled or influenced by; in a moral sense; within the dominion of.

They are all under sin. Romans 3:9.

Under a signature, bearing, as a name or title.

Under way, in seamen’s language, moving; in a condition to make progress.

To keep under, to hold in subjection or control; to restrain.

I keep under my body. 1 Corinthians 9:27.

UNDER, a. Lower in degree; subject; subordinate; as an under officer; under sheriff.

Under is much used in composition. For the etymologies, see the principal words.

UNDERACTION, n. Subordinate action; action not essential to the main story.

The least episodes or underactions - are parts necessary to the main design.

UNDERAGENT, n. A subordinate agent.

UNDERBEAR, v.t.

1. To support; to endure.

2. To line; to guard; as cloth of gold underborne with blue tinsel. Obs.

UNDERBEARER, n. In funerals, one who sustains the corpse.

UNDERBID, v.t. To bid or offer less than another; as in auctions, when a contract or service is set up to the lowest bidder.

UNDERBRED, a. Of inferior breeding or manners.

UNDERBRUSH, n. Shrubs and small trees in a wood or forest, growing under large trees.

UNDERBUY, v.t. To buy at less than a thing is worth. [Not used.]

UNDERCHAMBERLAIN, n. A deputy chamberlain of the exchequer.

UNDERCLERK, n. A clerk subordinate to the principal clerk.

UNDERCROFT, n. A vault under the choir or chancel of a church; also, a vault or secret walk under ground.

UNDERCURRENT, n. A current below the surface of the water.

UNDERDITCH, v.t. To form a deep ditch or trench to drain the surface of land.

UNDERDO, v.i.

1. To act below one’s abilities.

2. To do less than is requisite.

UNDERDOSE, n. A quantity less than a dose.

UNDERDOSE, v.i. To take small doses.

UNDERDRAIN, n. A drain or trench below the surface of the ground.

UNDERDRAIN, v.t. To drain by cutting a deep channel below the surface.

UNDERFACTION, n. A subordinate faction.

UNDERFARMER, n. A subordinate farmer.

UNDERFELLOW, n. A mean sorry wretch.

UNDERFILLING, n. The lower part of a building.

UNDERFONG, v.t. To take in hand. Obs.

UNDERFOOT, adv. Beneath.

UNDERFOOT, a. Low; base; abject; trodden down.

UNDERFURNISH, v.t. To supply with less than enough.

UNDERFURNISHED, pp. Supplied with less than enough.

UNDERFURNISHING, ppr. Furnishing with less than enough.

UNDERFURROW, adv. In agriculture, to sow underforrow, is to plow in seed. This phrase is applied to other operations, in which something is covered by the furrow-slice.

UNDERGIRD, v.t. [See Gird.] To bind below; to gird round the bottom. Acts 27:17.

UNDERGO, v.t.

1. To suffer; to endure something burdensome or painful to the body or the mind; as, to undergo toil and fatigue; to undergo pain; to undergo grief or anxiety; to undergo the operation of amputation.

2. To pass through. Bread in the stomach undergoes the process of digestion; it undergoes a material alteration.

3. To sustain without fainting, yielding or sinking. Can you undergo the operation, or the fatigue?

4. To be the bearer of; to possess.

Virtues - as infinite as man may undergo. [Not in use.]

5. To support; to hazard.

I have mov’d certain Romans to undergo with me an enterprise.

6. To be subject to.

Claudio undergoes my challenge. Obs.

UNDERGOING, ppr. Suffering; enduring.

UNDERGONE, pp. undergawn’. Borne; suffered; sustained; endured. Who can tell how many evils and pains he has undergone?

UNDERGRADUATE, n. A student or member of a university or college, who has not taken his first degree.

UNDERGROUND, n. A place or space beneath the surface of the ground.

UNDERGROUND, a. Being below the surface of the ground; as an underground story or apartment.

UNDERGROUND, adv. Beneath the surface of the earth.

UNDERGROWTH, n. That which grows under trees; shrubs or small trees growing among large ones.

UNDERHAND, adv.

1. By secret means; in a clandestine manner.

2. By fraud; by fraudulent means.

UNDERHAND, a. Secret; clandestine; usually implying meanness or fraud, or both. He obtained the place by underhand practices.

UNDERHANDED, a. Underhand; clandestine. [This is the word in more general use in the United States.]

UNDERIVED, a. Not derived; not borrowed; not received from a foreign source.

UNDERKEEPER, n. A subordinate keeper.

UNDERLABORER, n. A subordinate workman

UNDERLAID, pp. or a. [from underlay.] Having something lying or laid beneath; as sand underlaid with clay.

UNDERLAY, v.t. To lay beneath; to support by something laid under.

UNDERLEAF, n. A sort of apple good for cider.

UNDERLET, v.t.

1. To let below the value.

2. To let or lease, as a lessee or tenant; to let under a lease.

It is a matter of much importance - that the tenant should have power to underlet his farms.

UNDERLETTER, n. A tenant who leases.

UNDERLETTING, ppr. Letting or leasing under a lease or by a lessee.

UNDERLETTING, n. The act or practice of letting lands by lessees or tenants. [This is called also subletting.]

UNDERLINE, v.t.

1. To mark with a line below the words; sometimes called scoring.

2. To influence secretly. [Not used.]

UNDERLINED, pp. Marked with a line underneath.

UNDERLING, n. An inferior person or agent; a mean sorry fellow.

UNDERLINING, ppr. Marking with a line below.

UNDERLOCK, n. A lock of wool hanging under the belly of a sheep.

UNDERMASTER, n. A master subordinate to the principal master.

UNDERMEAL, n. A repast before dinner.

UNDERMINE, v.t.

1. To sap; to excavate the earth beneath, for the purpose of suffering to fall, or of blowing up; as, to undermine a wall.

2. To excavate the earth beneath. Rapid streams often undermine their banks and the trees growing upon them.

3. To remove the foundation or support of any thing by clandestine means; as, to undermine reputation; to undermine the constitution of the state.

He should be warned who are like to undermine him.

UNDERMINED, pp. Sapped; having the foundation removed.

UNDERMINER, n.

1. One that saps, or excavates the earth beneath any thing.

2. One that clandestinely removes the foundation or support; one that secretly overthrows; as an underminer of the church.

UNDERMINING, ppr. Sapping; digging away the earth beneath; clandestinely removing the supports of.

UNDERMOST, a.

1. Lowest in place beneath others.

2. Lowest in state or condition.

The party that is undermost.