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 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)

I would urge no farmer to plunge up to his neck into debt in order to underdrain his farm.

From What I know of farming: a series of brief and plain expositions of practical agriculture as an art based upon science by Greeley, Horace

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)

"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)

The underdrain restores the proper equilibrium; the brush-hook and axe cut away the rank unwholesome growth which thrives best in abnormal conditions.

From Success with Small Fruits by Roe, Edward Payson