▪ I. below, adv. and prep.
(bɪˈləʊ)
Forms: 4 bilooghe, 6 by lowe, beloe, belowe, 6– below.
[f. be prep. + low a. (in ME. loȝ, loogh). Very rare in ME., and only as an adverb; it began apparently as a variant of the earlier a-lowe, a-low, the parallel form to an-high (now on high); the synonymous pair, a-low be-low, were analogous to a-fore be-fore, etc. Below was not a common word till the 16th c., towards the end of which the prepositional use (not found with a-low) arose, and is frequent in Shakespeare. Below and beneath constitute together the opposite of above. As to their use, and relations to under, see beneath B.]
A. (without object expressed.) adv.
1. a. gen. In a low position relatively to another place; in or to a lower position, lower down. Phr. below there! a warning addressed to persons to beware of a descending object.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 116, & syþen on lenþe bi-looghe ledez inogh. 1567 Turberv. in Chalmers Eng. Poets II. 616/2 It makes the Oke to overlooke the slender shrubs bylow. 1626 Bacon Sylva (J.) To men standing below on the ground, those that be on the top of Paul's seem much less than they are. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 373 The Waters..belching from below, Black Sands, as from a forceful Engine throw. 1700 ― Pal. & Arc. i. 218 Then look'd below, and from the Castle's height Beheld a..pleasing sight. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxiii. (1806) 137 The child..leaped from her arms into the flood below. 1842 Tennyson Fatima iv, From below Sweet gales, as from deep gardens, blow. 1896 Bow Bells 6 Mar. 264/2 One man was tying a paint-pot to the rung of the ladder, the cord slipped, down came the pot, the man singing out ‘Below there!’ |
b. Lower on a written sheet or page; hence, later in a book or writing; at the foot of the page.
| 1694 Salmon Iatrica i. v. 292/1 He may use the pills below described. 1784 R. Burrow Comp. Ladies Diary 35 Read what's below. 1807 F. Wrangham Serm. Transl. Script. 38 The passages alluded to below have been quoted almost to satiety. 1863 A. J. Horwood Yearbks. 30 & 31 Edw. I Pref. 29 The forms subjoined in the note below. |
2. In a lower position relatively to some place of permanent reference: a. Under heaven; on earth. Often prec. by here. arch. or poet.
| 1574 A. L. Calvin's Foure Serm. i, God faileth not to send down certain beames hether by lowe to lighten us. 1680 Butler Elephant in Moon 284 That Elephant may differ so From those upon the Earth below. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 63 Where to find that happiest spot below. 1766 ― Hermit viii, Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long. 1821 Keats Lamia 280 Finer spirits cannot breathe below In human climes. 1832 Athenæum 377 The merry stream floweth For all below. |
b. Under the earth; in Hades, in hell.
| 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 31 Or Phœbus Steeds are founderd Or Night kept chain'd below. a 1740 Tickell (J.) Prosp'rous traitors gnash their teeth below. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake, Macgregor would dive to the mansions below! a 1843 Southey Inchc. Rock xvii. 4 As if with the Inchcape Bell, The fiends below were ringing his knell. 1847 Barham Ingol. Leg. (1869) 191 They say she is now leading apes, and mends Bachelors' small clothes below. |
c. On a lower floor, down-stairs, ‘below-stairs’; under the deck, in or into the cabin or hold of a ship.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 150 There's one Master Broome below would faine speake with you. c 1600 Rob. Hood (Ritson) ii. xvi. 90 Fell down on the ship hatch And under the hatches there below. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 269 ¶1 A man below desired to speak with me. 1840 R. Dana Bef. Mast xxiii. 68 It being the turn of our watch to go below. 1859 G. Meredith R. Feverel xxii. (1885) 155 This Adonis of the lower household was a mighty man below. |
3. Lower down a slope, valley, or course of a river; nearer to the sea. U.S.
| 1645 in Springfield Rec. (1898) I. 164 The Brooke in the longe meddow..and the Brooke a little below on the other side. 1810 Jefferson Corr. (1830) 151 She expected..a British fleet from below. 1817 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. VIII. 238 Mr. Lefavour of Salem, who was living below, had come up here on business. 1845 Simms Wigwam & Cabin Ser. i. 16 There's ne'er a house either above or below for a matter of fifteen miles. |
4. fig. In a lower rank, grade, or station.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 130 The Generall's disdain'd By him one step below. 1882 Times 15 Mar. 9/3 It was impossible for Alexander II to resist the pressure from below in 1877. 1884 Sir W. Brett Law Rep. XIV. Q. Bench 798 The view which the judgment of the Court below upholds. |
5. = below zero (see B. 6 a).
| 1795 E. P. Simcoe Diary 12 Jan. (1911) 265 Thermometer 10 degrees below. 1896 W. D. Howells Impressions 9 The frosts of ten and twenty below. 1904 M. E. Waller Wood-Carver ii. 82 [It was] twenty-seven below this morning. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 1/6 The predicted high [temperature] for Elliot Lake today is 5 below; the low tonight 20 below. |
B. (with obj.) prep.
1. a. Lower than, at a less elevation than.
| c 1575 Turberv. All Things as used (R.) Bylowe the lampe of Phœbus light. 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. iii. 2 O blessed breeding Sun..below thy Sisters Orbe Infect the ayre. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 33 The Screw-plate will, after it gets a little below the Tapering, go no farther. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. iv. xvii. 8 He never counted him a man Would strike below the knee. 1849 M. Somerville Phys. Geog. II. xxiv. 136 Immediately below the snow-line. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. (1876) I. 1 A district lying partly below the level of the ocean. 1863 C. St. John Nat. Hist. Moray i. 2 The bird is looking in all directions below her for any enemy. |
b. below-stairs (now usually down-stairs): at the foot of the staircase, on or to the floor below, esp. the ground-floor; hence, in or into the kitchen or servants' hall.
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado v. ii. 10 Why shall I alwaies keepe below staires? 1667 E. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. (1684) 153 The Cofferer..is to pay the Wages to the King's Servants above and below stairs. 1749 H. Fitzcotton Iliad i. Pref. 14 Leaving the young people below-stairs, to divert themselves. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop viii, Kit's mother, poor woman, is waiting at the grate below stairs. 1850 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xvi. 144 St. Clare will have high life below stairs. |
c. Of position in a writing or on a printed page.
| 1743 J. Barclay Educ. 85 Below the simple verbs are translated into English all the useful rules. 1858 W. Holdsworth Law of Wills 13 No signature will give effect to any disposition or direction which is inserted below or after it in point of place. |
d. fig. Too low for the influence of, too low to be affected by.
| 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 168 It is possible to be below flattery as well as above it. One who trusts nobody will not trust sycophants. |
2. a. Lower on a slope than; farther down a valley or stream than: hence below-bridge = lower than London (or other) Bridge; nearer the bottom, or what is considered the bottom, of a room than, as below the gangway in the British House of Commons.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. iii. 103 At the consecrated Fount, A League below the Citie. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. C, Below bridge, where the great Scene of Navigation lyes. 1871 Ruskin Fors Clav. II. xiv. 11 Below the village, the valley opens..into a broad flat meadow. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. i. 2 The water sweeps down below bridge in the direction of Greenwich. 1885 Weekly Times 8 May 15/4 Below the gangway sat a strong Radical party. |
b. Of time: Later than, after. rare.
| a 1790 T. Warton (L.) The most eminent scholars..before and even below the twelfth century, were educated in our religious houses. |
3. Deeper than. Also fig.
| 1849 M. Somerville Phys. Geog. II. xxiv. 129 The ground is perpetually frozen at a very small depth below the surface. 1872 Mem. Agnes E. Jones vi. 387 This call was followed by one or two more, but we did not get below the surface. 1884 G. J. Symons Brit. Rainf. 21 That water is usually about 3 ft. below the surface of the ground. 1885 Sir W. Thomson in Nature XXXI. 409 The necessity for study below the surface seems to have been earliest recognised in anatomy. |
4. Directly beneath; under the covering or canopy of; underneath. More strictly expressed by under, beneath.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear v. iii. 137 To the discent and dust below thy foote. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 472 From her Mossy Bow'r below the Ground. 1719 Watts Ps. cxvii, From all that dwell below the skies. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. iii. 21 Sitting on this stone, And thinking who it was who lay below it. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iii, Books lay on tables and below tables. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xii. i, Some dolorous message knit below The wild pulsation of her wings. |
5. Under the influence of; = beneath 4. rare.
| 1813 Byron Ch. Har. i. xlvii, His vineyard..Blasted below the dim hot breath of war. |
6. Of position in a graduated scale, e.g. that of a barometer: hence a. Lower, in amount, weight, strength, value, price, degree of any quality, than.
| 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 30 Having made it sure that no Man else would go below [underbid] him. 1788 Priestley Lect. Hist. v. liii. 416 In this case, the exchange is said to be below par at London. 1840 E. Turner Elem. Chem. (ed. 7) II. 445 In this state it..fuses below redness. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. ii. v. iii. § 5. 377 Incomes below a certain amount should be altogether untaxed. 1849 M. Somerville Phys. Geog. II. xxiv. 124 The cold has been 120° below Zero. 1884 Mrs. H. Wood White Witch II. viii. 190 He threw himself into the seat beside her, and said below his breath, etc. 1884 G. J. Symons Brit. Rainf. 84 The rainfall of this month..is considerably below the average. Mod. Throughout England the barometer stood below 29. |
b. fig. Lower in rank, dignity, or station than.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. ii. 32 From below your Duke to beneath your Constable. 1668 Dryden Maiden Q. i. iii, I love below myself, a Subject. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 49 ¶7 He..gives his Orders..to the Servants below him. 1751 Jortin Serm. (1771) II. iv. 73 Unless he is sunk below a beast. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. ii. (1865) 248 No woman dresses below herself from caprice. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 227 A man far below them in station. 1885 J. Martineau Ethical The. I. 275 What he treats as Substance relatively to phenomenal nature below it, he regards as Attribute relatively to a prior infinite nature above it. |
c. Lower, in quality or excellence, or in some particular quality, than; inferior to.
| 1711 Felton (T.) His idylliums of Theocritus are as much below his Manilius, as the fields are below the stars. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. viii. (1806) 34 The finest strokes..are much below those in the Acis and Galatea of Ovid. 1839 Bailey Festus viii, So far is the lightest heart below True happiness. 1847 Macaulay Let. in Trevelyan Life (1876) II. xi. 232 How far my performance is below excellence. 1871 Haweis Mus. & Mor. (1874) 505 We place England and France below Germany. |
7. Unworthy of, unbefitting, lowering to. More usually expressed by beneath.
| 1637 Bridgman in Prynne Prelate's Tyrr. (1641) 223 It is much below me to be an Informer. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 23 ¶2 It was below a Gentlewoman to wrangle. 1712 ― ibid. No. 522 ¶2 A man..of birth and estate below no woman to accept. 1743 J. Barclay Educ. 36 Such things some may reckon below attention. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1842) I. 139 A compiler..who thinks no fact below his regard. 1883 Proctor in Knowledge 10 Aug. 94/1 Too far below contempt to be worth castigating. |
8. Comb. below-ground, (a) adj., that is below the ground; (b) n., a place or places below the ground; below-the-belt a., unfair, underhand (see belt n.1 1 d).
| 1941 L. A. G. Strong Bay viii. 183 The soft pressure, the below-the-belt, if-you-love-me stuff that women employ so readily. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder (Suppl.) 16 Feb. 35/1 A below-ground, outside concrete tank. 1960 E. Bowen Time in Rome iv. 118 From Rome's below-ground I must not omit the Catacombs. |
▪ II. † below, v. Obs. rare.
[f. be- 1 + low v.]
To make low or lowly, to humble.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 230 If þow wil[t]..biloue [v.r. bilow, bylowe] þe amonges low men · so shaltow lacche grace. |
▪ III. below, -es, -ys
obs. forms of bellow-s.