beneath

1. 1
   preposition

   In a position lower than or directly under something else.

   The submarine glided silently beneath the waves.

   Workers discovered a forgotten tunnel beneath the old courthouse.

   Similarunder, underneath, below

   Oppositeabove, over

   Note

   With an object, the physical picture can carry weight as well as position. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, a country sinks beneath the yoke: it is burdened, not merely lower. Pope's 1718 epitaph to Nicholas Rowe uses the word for a grave: beneath a rude and nameless stone he lies. In both lines, something presses down on what lies below.

2. 2
   adverb

   In or to a lower place or position; below or underneath.

   The climbers rested on the ledge, the valley spread out far beneath.

   He peeled back the wallpaper to reveal the bare brick beneath.

   Similarbelow, underneath

   Oppositeabove, overhead

   Note

   An adverb with no object: it points downward without naming what lies above, and it often sits right after its noun. The Economist in 2013 writes of the land beneath and the air above. The form goes back to Old English bineoþan, built from be- and neath, with cousins in Dutch beneden and Low German benedden. Once an object follows, it becomes the plain preposition.

3. 3
   preposition

   Covered up or concealed by something that lies over it, whether physically or figuratively.

   The original painting lay beneath two layers of cheap varnish.

   Beneath her calm smile, she was furious about the delay.

   Similarunder, underneath, behind

4. 4
   preposition

   In a position lower than someone or something in rank, status, or dignity; unworthy of.

   In the old company structure, every branch manager was beneath the regional director.

   He considered apologizing first to be beneath his dignity.

   Similarbelow, under

   Oppositeabove

   Note

   Rank and worth are pictured on a vertical scale, and whatever sits too low on it is unworthy. Beneath contempt takes this to its limit: behavior so low it does not even merit contempt. The object is usually a word of status, such as dignity or station, and it often takes a possessive, as in Francis Atterbury's line about doing nothing beneath his high station.

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