under|popu|lat|ed /ʌ ndə r pɒ pjʊle I t I d/ ADJ You describe a country or region as underpopulated when it could support a much larger population than it has. □ Many of the islands are mainly wild and underpopulated.
under|privi|leged /ʌ ndə r pr I v I l I dʒd/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Underprivileged people have less money and fewer possessions and opportunities than other people in their society. □ …helping underprivileged children to learn to read. □ …the hideous effects of government cuts on underprivileged families. ● N‑PLURAL The underprivileged are people who are underprivileged. □ …government plans to make more jobs available to the underprivileged.
under|rate /ʌ ndə r re I t/ (underrates , underrating , underrated ) VERB If you underrate someone or something, you do not recognize how clever, important, or significant they are. □ [V n] We women have a lot of good business skills, although we tend to underrate ourselves. □ [V n] He underrated the seriousness of William's head injury. ● under|rat|ed ADJ [usu ADJ n] □ He is a very underrated poet.
under|score /ʌ ndə r skɔː r / (underscores , underscoring , underscored )
1 VERB If something such as an action or an event underscores another, it draws attention to the other thing and emphasizes its importance. [mainly AM ] □ [V n] The Labor Department figures underscore the shaky state of the economic recovery. [Also V that] in BRIT, usually use underline 2 VERB If you underscore something such as a word or a sentence, you draw a line underneath it in order to make people notice it or give it extra importance. [mainly AM ] □ [V n] He heavily underscored his note to Shelley. in BRIT, usually use underline
under|sea /ʌ ndə r siː/ ADJ [ADJ n] Undersea things or activities exist or happen below the surface of the sea. □ …an undersea pipeline running to Europe. □ …undersea exploration.
u nder-se cretary (under-secretaries ) also undersecretary N‑COUNT An under-secretary is a senior official with an important post in a government department. □ She served as under-secretary of state for health and social care.
under|shirt /ʌ ndə r ʃɜː r t/ (undershirts ) N‑COUNT An undershirt is a piece of clothing that you wear on the top half of your body next to your skin in order to keep warm. [AM ] □ He put on a pair of short pants and an undershirt. in BRIT, use vest
under|side /ʌ ndə r sa I d/ (undersides ) N‑COUNT The underside of something is the part of it which normally faces towards the ground. □ [+ of ] …the underside of the car.
under|signed /ʌ ndə r sa I nd/ ADJ [ADJ n] On a legal document, the undersigned people are the ones who have signed their names at the bottom of the document. [LEGAL ] □ The undersigned buyers agree to pay a 5,000 pound deposit. ● N‑PLURAL The undersigned are the people who have signed a legal document. □ …we the undersigned, all prominent doctors in our fields.
under|sized /ʌ ndə r sa I zd/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Undersized people or things are smaller than usual, or smaller than they should be. □ …undersized and underweight babies. □ They squashed into an undersized reception room. □ He was undersized, as were all the local children I was to meet.
under|spend /ʌ ndə r spend/ (underspends , underspending , underspent ) VERB If an organization or country underspends , it spends less money than it plans to or less money than it can afford. □ [V + on ] …a country that underspends on health and overspends on statisticians. [Also V n] ● N‑COUNT Underspend is also a noun. □ [+ in ] There has been an underspend in the department's budget. [Also + on ]
under|staffed /ʌ ndə r stɑː ft, -stæ ft/ ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If an organization is understaffed , it does not have enough employees to do its work properly. □ Many institutions offering child care are understaffed and underequipped. □ …an understaffed police force.
under|stand ◆◆◆ /ʌ ndə r stæ nd/ (understands , understanding , understood )
1 VERB [no cont] If you understand someone or understand what they are saying, you know what they mean. □ [V n] Rusty nodded as though she understood the old woman. □ [V wh] I don't understand what you are talking about. □ [make pron-refl V -ed] He was speaking poor English, trying to make himself understood.
2 VERB [no cont] If you understand a language, you know what someone is saying when they are speaking that language. □ [V n] I couldn't read or understand a word of Yiddish, so I asked him to translate.
3 VERB [no cont] To understand someone means to know how they feel and why they behave in the way that they do. □ [V n] It would be nice to have someone who really understood me, a friend. □ [V n] Trish had not exactly understood his feelings. □ [V wh] She understands why I get tired and grumpy.
4 VERB [no cont] You say that you understand something when you know why or how it happens. □ [V wh] They are too young to understand what is going on. □ [V n] It is worth making the effort to understand how investment trusts work.
5 VERB [no cont] If you understand that something is the case, you think it is true because you have heard or read that it is. You can say that something is understood to be the case to mean that people generally think it is true. □ [V that] We understand that she's in the studio recording her second album. □ [V it ] The idea, as I understand it, is to make science more relevant. □ [be V -ed to-inf] The management is understood to be very unwilling to agree to this request. □ [be V -ed that] It is understood that the veteran reporter had a heart attack.