What does subterranean mean?
Word: Subterranean
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Subterranean means lying or happening beneath the surface of the earth.
How do you spell subterranean?
Syllables: sub - ter - ra - ne - an
Tricky part: The double r after te is easy to lose in such a long word.
Watch out for: subteranean, subterannean
Memory tip: Terrain is the ground you walk on, and this word about the ground keeps the same double r.
Subterranean in a sentence
Example 1: Water from a subterranean spring fills the village well all year.
Example 2: Geologists mapped a subterranean river beneath the desert.
Example 3: The hotel's subterranean car park stays cool even in May.
Fun Fact
Meghalaya's Krem Liat Prah, often listed among India's longest caves, is a subterranean maze of passages running for about 30 km.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word subterranean as used in the sentence:
The old fort's water came from a subterranean tank fed by the monsoon rains.
a) wooden
b) underground
c) elevated
d) ancient
Show answer
b) underground. A tank below the earth is an underground tank.
Mingle-Mangle
Choose the word that the jumbled letters in the sentence make:
Bats rest by day in the nreatbuansre caves of the Kurnool hills.
a) subterranean
b) subordinate
c) substantial
d) submarine
Show answer
a) subterranean. With no d, i, l or m in the jumble, the other three options fall away.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
During our geography field trip to Meghalaya, the guide led us through a long subterranian passage where a cold stream ran quietly past walls of pale limestone.
a) geography
b) subterranian
c) passage
d) limestone
Show answer
b) subterranian. The last part of the word is ean, with an e after the n.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. excavate 2. tunell 3. subterranean 4. cavern
a) to dig a hole in the ground
b) found deep below ground level
c) a passage dug through a hill or under a road
d) a large cave
Show answer
c) a passage dug through a hill or under a road. Tunnel ends in el with a double n before it, so tunell is the wrong spelling.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which creature leads a largely subterranean life?
a) a dolphin
b) a parrot
c) an eagle
d) a mole
Show answer
d) a mole
2. A new metro line will be subterranean. How will passengers reach the platform?
a) by taking escalators down to it
b) by climbing stairs up to it
c) by walking over a bridge to it
d) by riding a ferry across to it
Show answer
a) by taking escalators down to it
