underdrain

American  

[uhn-der-dreyn, uhn-der-dreyn] / ˈʌn dərˌdreɪn, ˌʌn dərˈdreɪn /

noun

1. a drain placed beneath the surface of cultivated fields, streets, etc.

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verb (used with object)

1. to equip or supply with an underdrain or underdrains.

underdrain British  

noun

1. a drain buried below agricultural land

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verb

1. to bury such drains below (agricultural land)

Other Word Forms

• underdrainage
  noun

Etymology

Origin of underdrain

First recorded in 1795–1805; under- + drain

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

underdrain

The best way undoubtedly is to underdrain the land, and then to distribute the sewage on the principle of intermittent downward filtration.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 484, April 11, 1885 by Various

"Do you think it is profitable to underdrain land?" is a question a thousand times asked, and yet is a question that admits of no direct general answer.

From Farm drainage The Principles, Processes, and Effects of Draining Land with Stones, Wood, Plows, and Open Ditches, and Especially with Tiles by French, Henry F. (Henry Flagg)

A properly laid underdrain will last half a century or more, but an open drain, especially if deep, has a constant tendency to fill up.

From Farm drainage The Principles, Processes, and Effects of Draining Land with Stones, Wood, Plows, and Open Ditches, and Especially with Tiles by French, Henry F. (Henry Flagg)

First, if your land has not a dry subsoil, underdrain it thoroughly: water standing in the soil, and becoming cold or stagnant, is very injurious to wheat.

From Soil Culture by Walden, J. H.

The writer has seen a six-inch underdrain running full of ground water collected within a distance of a hundred feet, but this was in gravel soil through which the water passed very freely.

From Rural Hygiene by Ogden, Henry N. (Henry Neely)