sub-sewern.
/ˈsʌbs(j)uːə/, U.S. /ˈsəbˌsuər/, /ˈsəbˌsʊ(ə)r/ Now rare.
A subordinate or small sewer; one connected to a larger principal sewer.
ΚΠ
1843 Northern Star & Leeds Gen. Advertiser 25 Nov. 7/1 (heading) Proposals for constructing sub-sewers as a necessary auxiliary to the present sewers.
1850 in Lancet 26 Oct. 480/2 The ballast or earth..is cut out by the dredging-machines..in order to form the sub-sewers.
1912 Munic. Jrnl. 18 Jan. 102/1 The trunk sewer was extended seven blocks, and seven sub-sewers were built.
1989 R. A. Lafferty Sinbad 20 And then there were the low dives indeed, in the cellars and cisterns and sewers of Baghdad, and in the sub-cellars and the sub-sewers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1843