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▪ I. underˈhand, adv.
[under-2. Cf. MDu. onderhande(n) by degrees, slowly; Du. onderhandsch secret, private; Da. underhaanden secretly, privately.]
†1.
a. In (or into) subjection; under rule or command. Obs.
a900Daniel 71 Hie..ᵹelæddon..Israela cyn on eastweᵹas..under hand..hæðenum deman. a1000in Thorpe Laws (1840) II. 218 note, æᵹhwæðer ᵹa bisceope underhand. a1300Cursor M. 6442 Þis ilk folk was vntelland, Þat moyses had vnder hand. Ibid. 7057 Labdon þan had þam vnder-hand, Was ouerman aght yeir lastand.
†b. In (one's) possession or power. Obs.
a1200in Kemble Codex Dipl. (1846) IV. 268 Ðat lond ðat Berric hauede under hande. c1200in Thorpe Dipl. Angl. Sax. (1865) 581 Alle þinge þe hi under honde habben buten þat lond. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2984 Þo he adde þe luþer king agag vnder honde, He let him hewe to peces.
†c. In hand; in course of doing. Obs.
c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 3478 This batayl wil he undertake, And he haves yit in other land Ful felle dedes underhand. 1693Mem. Ct. Teckely iv. 26 Which made the People have a suspicion that there was a Design under hand, but it could not be discovered.
†2.
a. Archery. (Meaning uncertain.) Obs. rare.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 126 Those that be lytle brested and big toward the hede..be fit for them whiche shote vnder hande. Ibid. 164 A byg brested shafte [is bad] for hym that shoteth vnder hande..: a little brested shafte for him yat shoteth aboue ye hande. 15..Robin Hoode & Qu. Kath. xxix. (Percy MS.), Loxly puld forth a broad arrowe, He shott it vnder hand.
b. (See quot. 1834.)
1721S. Sewall Diary 18 Nov., Went to the Funeral... The Sight was awfull to see the Father, and then the daughter underhand by four. 1834A. E. Bray Warleigh xx, The coffin..was borne ‘underhand’, as it is called in Devonshire, that is, carried by bearers, about a foot from the ground, by napkins passed through the coffin-rings.
c. (See quot.)
1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 502 The Light and Easy, or Heavy and Hard Running in of the Carriage. Thus.., the Press goes light and easy under Hand, or it goes heavy or hard under Hand. 1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. s.v.
d. With the hand held below; spec. in Cricket (see underhand a. 1 c).
1828in Box Cricket (1868) 77 The ball must be bowled..and delivered underhand with the hand below the elbow. 1885Graphic 14 Feb. 166/1 He..drew out a pair of steel handcuffs, which he..threw up and caught underhand in the air.
3. In a secret, covert, or stealthy manner; by secret means; quietly or unobtrusively.
Common from c 1580; formerly often written as two words (β), or with hyphen (γ).
α1538Elyot, Suppilo, to steale vnderhand [1545 vnder hande] or craftily. 1580Campion in Allen Martyrdom (1908) 22 Neither can I tell who altered his determination saving God, to whom vnderhand I then humbly praied. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 215 The rest being put to the sword, saue those that were vnderhand saued by the Sidonians. 1654Gataker Disc. Apol. 44 Being underhand backed and fed with money by two Tenants. 1684W. Hedges Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 148 He told me that Mr. Richard Frenchfeild was, underhand, a great favorer of y⊇ Interlopers. 1733Neal Hist. Purit. II. 605 His Majesty was underhand preparing for war. 1792Burke Corr. (1844) III. 375, I should not be surprised if he did all he could, underhand, to lessen you in the opinion..of those who employ you. 1814Scott Wav. lxiv, Bailie Macwheeble provided Janet underhand with meal for their maintenance. 1894Stevenson & L. Osbourne Ebb Tide vii, Approaching that island underhand like eaves⁓droppers and thieves.
β1545[see α]. 1577Holinshed Chron. II. 305/1 The same Stigand was an helper vnder hande for king William to atteyne the Crowne. 1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. iii. iii, He does it under hand, out of a reseru'd disposition to doe thee good without ostentation. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. x. 31 He..used the interposure of a Man born in the country, who under hand went to the fishermen. 1726Cavallier Mem. i. 103 Commonly we liv'd by the Assistance of our Friends, who under Hand supplied us in our Marches, with Bread and other Necessaries.
γ1583Bowes & Davison in B.'s Corr. (Surtees) 336 He laboureth under-hand to work a peace between the duke and Gowrie. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 221 Meane time he under-hand advertises Appollinaire to go always well accompanied. 1683Lond. Gaz. No. 1807/3 They begin very much to suspect that..he does under-hand encourage the Turks to the War. 1705tr. Bosman's Guinea 362 These Gentlemen..agree under-hand with those who sell the Slaves. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. iii. 148 In appearance to acquiesce in this resolution, whilst he endeavoured under⁓hand to give it all the obstruction he could. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xx, That friend..was labouring hard under-hand to consolidate a band of patriots.
†4. = underfoot adv. 3. Obs.—1
1617Moryson Itin. iii. 55 If he bring his Horse thither, those that are to buy him, are such crafty knaues,..as he shall be forced to sell his Horse vnder hand.
▪ II. ˈunderhand, a. and n.
[f. prec.]
A. adj. (In predicative use often underˈhand.)
1.
†a. Archery. Used in shooting ‘under hand’. (Cf. underhand adv. 2 a.)
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 126 Thus the vnderhande [shaft] must haue a small breste, to go cleane awaye oute of the bowe.
b. Made with the hands kept below the level of the body.
1705tr. Bosman's Guinea 129 Paddling the Water with an under-hand stroke.
c. Cricket. Of bowling: Performed with the hand held under the ball and lower than the shoulder or (formerly) the elbow. (Cf. under-arm a. 1 and underhand adv. 2 d.)
1850‘Bat’ Cricket Man. 33 By the underhand method of bowling, the ball..went directly to the wicket. 1867Lillywhite's Cricketers' Comp. 8 Underhand bowling is almost extinct. 1905F. Sugg's Cricket Annual 47 It is very essential that he should cultivate the under-hand throw.
d. Using underhand bowling.
1848W. N. Hutchinson Dog-breaking ii. 13 Similar to the swing of an under-hand bowler at cricket. 1851Lillywhite Guide to Cricketers 68 He is a capital under-hand bowler and a dangerous bat.
2. Secret, clandestine, surreptitious. Also absol.
1592Nashe P. Penilesse G ij b, All under-hand cloaking of bad actions with Common-wealth pretences. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords App. (Camden) 149 It was ordered..that..the sollicitor should goe with the officer, whoe had the warrant, and showlld searche all underhand workers' howsses. 1649Nicholas Papers (Camden) 139 The former endeavouring by underhand treaties to undermyne him. 1678Wanley Wond. Lit. World v. ii. §59. 471/1 Manuel..was an underhand enemy to the Western Christians, and an open enemy to the Turks. 1712Addison Spect. No. 550 ⁋1 Several indirect and underhand Practices. 1823Scott Quentin D. i, These turbulent cities..never failed to find underhand countenance at the Court of Louis. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. ix. 366 Their influence must have been exercised in a purely underhand way. 1892Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker x, A new element of the uncertain, the underhand, perhaps even the dangerous.
b. Of persons: Not straightforward.
1842J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) II. 393, I am often accused of being underhand and uncandid. 1858Lytton What will He do? i. xvi, You could not mean to be sly and underhand.
3. Not open or obvious; unobtrusive; quiet.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. i. i. 142, I had my selfe notice of my Brothers purpose heerein, and haue by vnder-hand meanes laboured to disswade him from it. 1656Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xxxviii. (1674) 50 By this handsom under-hand dealing, I have reduced the formerly ruinous..State..into the condition that now it is. 1824S. E. Ferrier Inher. xxiv, For, as she observed, in an underhand way, there was no disputing with a man who held the key of the post-bag. 1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. IV. v. iv. §14 The most subtle moves of a game of chess,..which are, in dim, underhand, wonderful way, bringing out their foreseen and inevitable result.
4. Held in, manipulated by, the hand.
1706E. Baynard in Sir J. Floyer Hot & Cold Bath ii. 274 He went..with Crutches, and was in six or eight times Bathing so much reliev'd as to walk with an underhand Stick. 1786Abercrombie Gard. Assist. 136 Ridge out melons in under⁓hand glasses.
5. Mining. Worked from above downwards.
1877Raymond Statist. Mines & M. 226 Fifteen men were engaged in underhand stoping from the top of winze No. 3.
B. n.
1. An underhand ball; underhand bowling.
1866Le Fanu All in Dark I. xxxiii. 282 He handles the willow pretty well, and would treat you to a tolerably straight, well pitched slow underhand. 1885H. Finch-Hatton Advance Australia! 338 All display a precocious talent for round-hand bowling, very different to the sneaking underhand affected by the uneducated youth of Great Britain.
2. A position of inferiority.
1886Stevenson Kidnapped xii, I paid the less attention to this, for I knew it was usually said by those who have the underhand. |