Underdraw
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To cover or line the underside of (a floor or roof) with plasterwork, boarding or other such treatment. transitive
"The [roof] had never been underdrawn, its entire anatomy lay bare to an inquiring eye, except where a frame of wood laden with oatcakes, and clusters of legs of beef, mutton and ham, concealed it."
- 2 To take or draw less than one needs or is entitled to.
"You say for month and months you had been underdrawing? — Always underdrawing and giving up every month. Whatever we drew the officer signed an indent for and we gave up a surplus."
- 3 To represent inadequately in an artistic depiction, or in words. transitive
- 4 To sketch a work of art in chalk, pencil, or other temporary medium prior to painting, inking, or otherwise making the final work.
"Here was the warrant (or at least a justification) not just for Steig's drawings of people as bodily symptoms but, more important, for his abandoning underdrawing in pencil prepartory to inking in a drawing."
Example
More examples"The [roof] had never been underdrawn, its entire anatomy lay bare to an inquiring eye, except where a frame of wood laden with oatcakes, and clusters of legs of beef, mutton and ham, concealed it."
Etymology
From Middle English underdrawen, equivalent to under- + draw.
More for "underdraw"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.