Undergrunds

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Subterranean railway networks that carry passengers beneath city streets ; clandestine resistance groups or fringe artistic movements operating outside official channels
2. Tunnelled metro systems running beneath cities ; covert opposition networks or countercultural scenes that work outside mainstream institutions
3. Buried rail lines that move commuters through city depths ; hidden dissident organisations or avant-garde circles that stay outside established authority

Etymology: "Undergrunds" is the plural of "underground" used as a noun, referring to groups or networks that operate in secret, such as resistance movements or the hidden circles of an art or music scene. The noun is a plain compound of "under" and "ground," both Old English words. The sense of secrecy most likely grew out of the physical image of something kept beneath the ordinary surface, out of public view.