iH&hS; pfMft"'HTO PLAY DOWN, DOWNPLAY riTU-3 OVERPLAY

under pre pared /.Andapri'pead; NAmE .Andarpri'perd/ adj. not having done enough preparation for sth you have to do iffeAftlftf}; iffr^Mlft under-priced /.Anda'praist; NAmE -dar'p-/ adj. some­thing that is underpriced is sold at a price that is too low and less than its real value ; ffifrMj&Eft

underprivileged /,Anda'privalid3d; NAmE -dar'p-/ adj. 1 [usually before noun] having less money and fewer opportunities than most people in society

H^lft;        EEE1 disadvan­

taged : underprivileged sections of the community K Eft #] if l^T jH O educationally/socially underprivileged groups         / ft & ±&LivEft^if — compare

privileged 2 the underprivileged noun [pi.] people who are underprivileged $§##7 underrate /.Anda'reit/ verb [VN] to not recognize how good, important, etc. sb/sth really is  fftif:

He’s seriously underrated as a writer. if II  life if Eft

o an underrated movie —       if

Efti&f2 — compare overrate, underestimate v.

, under-re'hearsed adj. (of a play or other perform­ance )$|}i] that has not been prepared and

practised enough j# iHA M        M A ; M&Aft

,under-,repre'sent-ed adj. not having as many repre­sentatives as would be expected or needed 6$fft; ft; £ I® 7IL Eft: Women are under-represented at senior levels in business.

underscore /,Anda’sko:(r); NAmE -dar's-/ verb, noun m verb (especially NAmE) = underline a noun (computing if) the symbol (_) that is used to draw a line under a letter or word and used in computer commands and in Internet addresses AM^, ( ffl

undersea /'Andasi:; NAmE ‘Andarsi:/ adj. [only before noun] found, used or happening below the surface of the sea jl[ 7 Eft; MJfc Eft: undersea cables/earthquakes

11M/»I

under-sec-re-tary /.Anda'sekratri; NAmE .Andar'sekra- teri/ noun {pi -ies) 1 (in Britain) a senior civil servant in charge of one part of a government department ( HS )        —compare Permanent Undersec­

retary 2 (in Britain) a junior minister who reports to the minister in charge of a government department ( HS ) S'JAE, A 7c 3 (in the US) an official of high rank in a government department, directly below a member of a cabinet ( HP ) S'JnP-K:, giJP#|Bp undersell /.Anda'sel; NAmE .Andar'sel/ verb (un-der-sold, un-der-sold /-'sauld; NAmE -'sould/) [VN] 1 to sell goods or services at a lower price than your competitors III i&T (   ) EfttfMMU; fZiftftm 2 to sell sth at

a price lower than its real value JBEifrfi=jH

3 to make people think that sb/sth is not as good or as interesting as they really are |# {ft A Cl Xt ■ • • Eft ft ; 12 fM: Don’t undersell yourself at the interview. ffiiftBtfr

o

undershirt /'Andaj3:t; NAmE 'Andarj3:rt/ noun {NAmE) = vest n.{ 1)

undershoot /,Anda'Ju:t; NAmE -dar'jV verb [V, VN] {pt, pp under-shot) (of an aircraft 1$ #1) to land before reaching the runway ffi ► under-shoot noun

under-shorts /'Andajoits; NAmE 'Andarjorrts/ noun [pi.] {NAmE) underpants that are worn by men ( J§ ®

m, nm

underside /'Andasaid; NAmE -dars-/ noun the side or surface of sth that is underneath TIW; JiSffi; I^pP; T

Hffi BDd BOTTOM

the undersigned /.Anda'samd; NAmE -dar's-/ noun {pi. the under-signed) {formal) the person who has signed that particular document ( HffEft ) ^^A, M&A, If A: We, the undersigned, agree to ... ^cd, AA#

wjwsa, mm-

under-sized /.Anda'saizd; NAmE -dar's-/ adj. not as big as normal    ^—JSK ) W

underskirt /‘Andask3:t; NAmE 'Andarsk3:rt/ noun a skirt that is worn under another skirt as underwear

undersold pt, pp of undersell

underspend /.Anda'spend; NAmE -dar's-/ verb (under­spent, under-spent) to not spend enough money on sth A ; ~Ec ft 'A A :        [V] The inquiry found that the

company had seriously underspent on safety equipment. iWAJja,   0[VN] We’ve

underspent our budget this year, ft d A 7 Eft ft ft A 7 Si % o ► underspend /'Andaspend; NAmE 'Andars-/ noun [sing.] (BrE) : a£l million underspend AfEEft 100 JjHU

understaffed /.Anda'staift; NAmE .Andar'staeft/ adj. [not usually before noun] not having enough people working and therefore not able to function well A M A A A

A A 0Qd UNDERMANNED EQ2 OVERSTAFFED

under stand °"w /.Anda'staend; NAmE -dar's-/ verb (understood, understood /-’stud/) (not used in the progressive tenses      W)

►                  MEANING .& S 1 to know or realize the meaning of words, a language, what sb says, etc.‘II; MM; §5^: [VN] Can you understand French? fAliiAif ? 0 Do you understand the instructions? ftHi#Sfg A Eft;§i S ?

0                  She didn’t understand the form she was signing. M A A'liMiETiE^lfEft^tf&o o [V] I’m not sure that I under­stand. Go over it again. ftA^kftiftWi^.J o if# A—'M BE c 0 I don’t want you doing that again. Do you under­stand? ft Aft Vm&WM o ftnJrW'&T®i? Otvwh-]

1                  don’t understand what he’s saying.

►                  HOW STH WORKS/HAPPENS Is ft ;         2 to know or

realize how or why sth happens, how it works or why it is important 7i; iA iR 3\; Bf] 7 : [VN] Doctors still don’t understand much about the disease.

MATMA^o 0 No one is answering the phone—I can’t understand it. SASfeit,, ft   &0 Ac 0

[V wh-] I could never understand why she was fired, ft ig

o [VN -ing] I just can’t under­stand him taking the money, ft M W, A M If A ft A A ft o o (formal) I just can’t understand his taking the money. ftMMA'M\tAft   [also V that, V]

►                  KNOW SB JMM:A 3 to know sb’s character, how they

feel and why they behave in the way they do 7 M; ij> P;       : [VN] Nobody understands me.         A 7 M ft 0

0 He doesn’t understand women at all. AWtATM ft ft o o [V wh ] They understand what I have been through, jffe Cl M Sc Kl M ifi flTNl 'If » 0 [V that] I quite understand that you need some time alone, ft flt 51 $? ft ft W          ^ o 0 [VN -ing] I quite understand you

needing some time alone. ft^MMftWW^i. S       0

[V] If you want to leave early, I’m sure he’ll understand.

►                  THINK/BELIEVE iA A;  4 (formal) to think or believe

that sth is true because you have been told that it is %

; if] fit; iE A: [V (that)] I understand (that) you wish to see the manager, ft B/f JaLJi 0 O Am I to under­stand that you refuse? ftfklzVfftfttfit&T ? O [VN to inf] The Prime Minister is understood to have been extremely angry about the report.  A„ 0

[VN that] It is understood that the band are working on their next album.

im,

►                  BE AGREED         5 [VN (that)] [usually passive] to agree

sth with sb without it needing to be said IftiA; ift#; AWiM: I thought it was understood that my expenses would be paid.

►                  MISSING WORD Wg-6ft'} 6 [VN] [usually passive] to realize

that a word in a phrase or sentence is not expressed and to supply it in your mind ^A; if M; tb: In the sentence ‘I can’t drive’, the object ‘a car’ is understood. & I can’t drive    a car

USTBl .make yourself understood to make your meaning clear, especially in another language (

^        # if W ) i B W it Ji i#iiM: He doesn’t speak

much Japanese but he can make himself understood. liil7A£i#0i£,     —more at

give v. o note on next page