ˈunderside
Also under-side, under side.
[under-1 5 b and under a. 2 b. Cf. Du. onderzijde, Da. underside, G. unterseite.]
1. The under or lower side or surface.
| α 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. x. 190 A Seat..having an Iron Pin fastned on either end the underside of it. 1704 Phil. Trans. XXV. 1625 The back or underside of the Leaves. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 459, I cannot conceive that surface separated from the table without an underside distinguishable from the upper. 1802 James Milit. Dict. s.v. Gun-carriage, The underside of the gun. 1890 Science-Gossip XXVI. 215/1 The under-side of the wings was a blackish-brown. |
| fig. 1866 Geo. Eliot Ess. (1884) 321 Comfort, which is the under-side or lining of all pleasure. 1876 Fortn. Rev. Jan. 108 Fear is the underside or wrong side of zeal. |
| β 1738 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Subscapularis, Spreading itself under the whole convex, or under side of it. 1794 W. Curtis in Bot. Mag. VIII. 272 The blossoms have been of a sulphur colour, shaded..especially on the under side. 1835 J. Duncan Beetles 169 The legs and under side of the abdomen are reddish yellow. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 476 At a greater distance from the stem the under side usually has the advantage. |
2. Comb. underside-couching, a form of couching (
couch v. 4 b) in which the couched thread is drawn through the fabric to the underside by each of the couching stitches (
cf. surface couching s.v. surface n. 6 d); also
underside-couched a.| 1936 Burlington Mag. Oct. 182/1 Underside-couching is used for the metal threads, and also for some of the silk ones. Ibid. 187/1 The heraldic shields..are underside⁓couched throughout. 1964 tr. A. Geijer's Textile Treasures Uppsala Cathedral 24 Embroidery of multicoloured silk, in split stitch, and gold in underside couching forming a herringbone pattern. |