belowground

American  

[bih-loh-ground] / bɪˈloʊˌgraʊnd /

adjective

1. situated beneath the surface of the earth; subterranean.

2. no longer living; buried, as in a cemetery (usually used predicatively).

   All those who might have known about the incident are now belowground.

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Etymology

Origin of belowground

First recorded in 1955–60; below + ground ¹

Example Sentences

This decomposition has the potential to infuse above- and belowground food webs with carbon, which can affect energy flow between these critical ecological linkages and affect the species they support.

From Science Daily • Jan. 3, 2024

One of the problems is that it's easier to estimate how much carbon is stored aboveground, in towering trees, than belowground, where plants store carbon in their roots.

From Salon • Apr. 4, 2022

“Right here, in stable Finnish bedrock, 430 meters belowground, 420 meters below sea level.”

From Science Magazine • Feb. 23, 2022

Any living microbes would presumably lurk inaccessibly deep belowground, in the planet’s warmer and possibly wetter interior.

From Scientific American • Aug. 6, 2021

The transparent blue sphere generated by the Orb of Osuvox appeared around the castle, surrounding it both above- and belowground.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline