ˈunderwing
[under-1 5 b and under-2.]
1. a. A wing placed under, or partly covered by, another.
| 1535 Coverdale 2 Esdras xii. 29 Thou sawest two vnder⁓winges vpon the heade that is on the right syde. 1801 Southey Thalaba iii. xxxiii, The admiring girl survey'd His out-spread sails of green; His gauzy underwings. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. 380 The part..in many cases is connected with the posterior basal margin of the under-wings. |
b. The part of a bird's body concealed when the wings are folded.
| 1956 G. Durrell Drunken Forest vi. 110 Two jacanas bathing, their underwings flashing buttercup yellow. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds iv. 75 Big pale-grey parrots with brilliant purplish-pink breasts, underwings and heads. |
2. a. Used attrib., with adjs. of colour, to designate various species of moths.
| 1749 Wilkes Eng. Moths & Butterflies 2 The great yellow-underwing moth. Ibid. 17 The willow red-underwing moth. Ibid. 23, 33. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxi. 272 A red under-wing-moth (Noctua pacta). 1882 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club IX. 559 One captured a Yellow Underwing Moth. |
b. ellipt. = Underwing moth.
| 1819 G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 418 Noctua Myrtilli. The beautiful yellow Underwing. 1832 Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & M. 51 The Pearl Underwing (Agrotis æqua). 1871 Darwin Desc. Man ii. xi. I. 394 The common yellow under-wings (Triphæna). |
3. attrib. Situated beneath the wings (of a bird, etc.). Also, situated or occurring beneath the wing of an aeroplane.
| 1896 Daily News 10 Jan. 6/7 The brightly-tinted varieties,..lined like the underwing feathers of tropical birds. 1946 Taylor & Allward Spitfire 27 (caption) The Spitfire's eye—the underwing camera installation. 1947 Shell Aviation News No. 106 23/1 Underwing or integral fuelling of aircraft is receiving a great deal of attention in the United States and Great Britain. 1949 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) ii. 14 Under-wing radiator, a radiator fitted below a wing. 1979 J. Garnett Backfire is Hostile xiii. 143 Aircraft are..carrying underwing stores. |