below | meaning of below in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2024)

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbelowbe‧low /bɪˈləʊ $ -ˈloʊ/ ●●● S2 W2 adverb, preposition 1 UNDER/BELOWin a lower place or position, or on a lower level OPP above an animal that lives below ground Water was dripping onto the floor below. I could hear voices in the courtyard below my window. They camped a few hundred feet below the summit. Down below, people were talking and laughing. Somewhere far below, a door slammed. The kitchen is directly below her bedroom. Captain Parker went below (=to the lower level of the ship), leaving Clooney in charge.► see thesaurus at under 2 POSITION/RANKof a lower rank or having a less important job than someone else OPP above No one below the level of senior manager was present at the meeting.and/or below officers of the rank of captain and below3 LESSless than a particular number, amount, level etc OPP above Test scores below 50 were classed as ‘unsatisfactory’. In June the rate of inflation fell below 3%. Tom’s spelling is well below average (=much worse than the normal standard).below freezing/zero (=lower than the temperature at which water freezes) In winter, temperatures dip to 40 degrees below freezing.and/or below free travel for children four years old and below 4 TCNlower on the same page, or on a later page OPP above Details of courses are listed below. For more information, see below. → below par, → below the beltExamples from the Corpusbelow• Answer each of the questions below.• Designer clothing was offered at wholesale prices and below.• officers of the rank of captain and below• The wood is rotted below.• Water was dripping onto the ground below.below ground• The bird travels to the invisible worlds above, and the snake slithers into the mysteries below ground.• This themed experience is set in a labyrinth of passages, caverns and secret chambers, 60 feet below ground!• Actually, a better place to start might be below ground level.• It will be concrete-lined and in places will be 500 m below ground level.• You want the base low enough so that the first row will sink below ground level.• The larvae of the cicadas that sit shrilling on trees spend their lives below ground sucking sap from roots.• You were below ground when it happened.• I go back, and this time I find my way into nondescript offices below ground where priests are transcribing notes.and/or below• Defendants to pay plaintiffs' costs in House of Lords and below.• In the white sector, 94 percent of primary school pupils were aged twelve or below.• Red Shiners prefer an unheated aquarium with a temperature of 72°F or below.• It's a revitalising point outside of the calf and below the knee.• Peering ahead, Carol saw in the distance, and below, the roofs and chimneys of a town.• There has been much advice given in recent years to plant with the graft bud just at or below the soil surface.• And we were all around and below them.• Above and below was still a kind of luminous dark.well below• The loss is well below analysts' expectations.• These factors force chemical rockets to deliver specific impulses well below five hundred seconds.• I skate a surface, the dark water of possible creativity well below, frozen from me.• Supplies were not available, falling well below market requirement.• So I bought a long top, which came well below my hips, to wear with them.• Hardly chump change, but well below the $ 2. 85 million at which he signed with Carolina.• The buyer would want the price to be well below the value of his monopoly, to maximise his profits.• Yet the wages paid to the workers for their labour are well below the value of the goods they produce.Origin below (1300-1400) →LOW1