Search the Dictionary

Lying under or beneath; hence, fundamental; as, the underlying strata of a locality; underlying principles.

The solid rock underlying superficial formations. Also Fig.

Broken and angular fragments of rocks underlying alluvial deposits. Lyell.

The rock underlying a stratified or nearly horizontal deposit.

That which forms the basis of anything; underlying principle; a concept or mental entity conceived or treated as an existing being or thing.

One of the small, oval, rounded spots upon the stem or branch of a plant, from which the underlying tissues may protrude or roots may issue, either in the air, or more commonly when the stem or branch is covered with water or earth.

the Jurassic period; a name given in England and Europe to a series of marine limestones underlying the Oölite. See the Chart of Geology.

A clayey layer or pan underlying some moors, etc.

ne named thee but to praise. Halleck. Old Yew, which graspest at the stones That name the underlying dead. Tennyson.

Of or pertaining to the lowest division of the Carboniferous formations underlying the proper coal measures. It was a marine formation characterized in general by beds of limestone. -- n.

A group of symptoms occurring together that are characteristic and indicative of some underlying cause, such as a disease.

To be at the basis of; to form the foundation of; to support; as, a doctrine underlying a theory.

Accompanying strain; subordinate and underlying meaning; accompaniment; undertone. In the very [poetry] there often an undersong of sense which none beside the poetic mind . . . can comprehend. Landor.