Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: In addition to the uses shown below, '~' is also used in phrasal verbs such as ‘go ~’ and ‘knuckle ~’.
1.
If a person or thing is ~ something, they are at a lower level than that thing, and may be covered or hidden by it.
...swimming in the pool or lying ~ an umbrella...
Under a wide shelf that holds coffee jars stands a pile of magazines...
She buried her head ~ the covers, pretending to be asleep...
A path runs ~ the trees.
PREP
2.
In a place such as a sea, river, or swimming pool, if someone or something is ~ the water, they are fully in the water and covered by it.
They said he’d been held ~ the water and drowned...
Goldfish were swimming lazily in a group just ~ the surface.
PREP
•
Under is also an adverb.
When the water was up to his neck, a hand came from behind and pushed his head ~.
ADV: ADV after v
3.
If you go ~ something, you move from one side to the other of something that is at a higher level than you.
He went ~ a brick arch...
A river boat passed ~ the bridge.
PREP
4.
Something that is ~ a layer of something, especially clothing, is covered by that layer.
I was wearing two sweaters ~ the green army jacket...
It was hard to see the colours ~ the layer of dust.
PREP
5.
You can use ~ before a noun to indicate that a person or thing is being affected by something or is going through a particular process.
...fishermen whose livelihoods are ~ threat...
I’m rarely ~ pressure and my co-workers are always nice to me...
Firemen said they had the blaze ~ control...
He was rushed to court yesterday ~ armed guard.
PREP
6.
If something happens ~ particular circumstances or conditions, it happens when those circumstances or conditions exist.
His best friend was killed by police ~ extremely questionable circumstances...
Under normal conditions, only about 20 to 40 per cent of vitamin E is absorbed...
PREP
7.
If something happens ~ a law, agreement, or system, it happens because that law, agreement, or system says that it should happen.
Under law, your employer has the right to hire a temporary worker to replace you...
Under the Constitution, you cannot be tried twice for the same crime.
PREP
8.
If something happens ~ a particular person or government, it happens when that person or government is in power.
There would be no new taxes ~ his leadership.
...the realities of life ~ a brutal dictatorship...
PREP
9.
If you study or work ~ a particular person, that person teaches you or tells you what to do.
Kiefer was just one of the artists who had studied ~ Beuys in the early Sixties...
I am the new manager and you will be working ~ me.
PREP
10.
If you do something ~ a particular name, you use that name instead of your real name.
Were any of your books published ~ the name Amanda Fairchild?...
The patient was registered ~ a false name.
PREP
11.
You use ~ to say which section of a list, book, or system something is in.
This study is described ~ ‘General Diseases of the Eye’...
‘Where would it be?’—‘Filed ~ C, second drawer down.’
PREP
12.
If something or someone is ~ a particular age or amount, they are less than that age or amount.
...jobs for those ~ 65...
Expenditure this year should be just ~ 15 billion pounds.
? over
PREP: PREP amount
•
Under is also an adverb.
...free childminding service for 5’s and ~.
ADV: amount and ADV
13.
~ wraps: see wrap