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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

above ground en · ADP

Pronunciation

  • /əˈbʌvˌɡɹaʊnd/ (US)
  • (US) audio

Etymology

From above + ground.

Meanings

  1. On or above the surface of the ground.
    • "This place Rome? It is but the tomb of mighty Rome." He showed Gerard . . . the gigantic vestiges of antiquity that peeped aboveground here and there. 1861, Charles Reade, chapter 60, in The Cloister and the Hearth:
    • Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals. 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2013, page 172:
  2. (figuratively) Not dead and buried; alive.
    • Alice: I told you, he don't have no wife, not aboveground, anyhow. 1992, David Webb Peoples, Unforgiven, screenplay
  3. Not of or relating to the social or political underground; in the open; existing within or produced by the establishment.
    • And they argue that if aboveground activists continue to express public sympathy for their underground counterparts […] 2006 March, “Watching What You Eat”, in Indianapolis Monthly, page 82:
    • But there is yet another interlocutor that precedes the underground culture of zines: the aboveground world of straight society. 2014, Stephen Duncombe, Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture:
    • More disturbing was that zines and underground culture didn't seem to be any sort of threat to this aboveground world. 2003, Henry Jenkins III, Tara McPherson, Jane Shattuc, Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture, page 228:

Antonyms

belowground (antonym(s) of) · underground · underground (antonym(s) of “existing within or produced by the establishment”)

Synonyms

official (existing within or produced by the establishment) · kicking (not dead and buried) · superterranean (on or above the surface of the ground) · mainstream (existing within or produced by the establishment)

Translations (20)

nl bovengronds (on or above the surface of the ground) · ga os cionn talún (figuratively: not dead and buried; alive) · fi maanpäällinen (on or above the surface of the ground) · nl in klaarlichte dag (existing within or produced by the establishment) · fi valtavirtainen (existing within or produced by the establishment) · fi maanpäällinen (figuratively: not dead and buried; alive) · cs nadzemní (on or above the surface of the ground) · izh maanpääliin (on or above the surface of the ground) · nl openlijk (existing within or produced by the establishment) · nl nog in leven (figuratively: not dead and buried; alive) · pl nadziemny (on or above the surface of the ground) · grc ὑπέργειος (on or above the surface of the ground) · fi tämänpuoleinen (figuratively: not dead and buried; alive) · nl nog niet dood en begraven (figuratively: not dead and buried; alive) · ka მიწისზედა (on or above the surface of the ground) · nl aan de oppervlakte (on or above the surface of the ground) · fi maanpinnan yläpuolinen (on or above the surface of the ground) · bg над земята (on or above the surface of the ground) · bg жив (figuratively: not dead and buried; alive) · is ofanjarðar (on or above the surface of the ground)