underside

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the lower or underneath surface of something

   The moth has silver markings on the underside of each wing.

2. 2
   noun

   the hidden, unpleasant, or less respectable aspect of a place or activity

   The investigation exposed the violent underside of the illegal trade.

A transparent compound of under + side, recorded from the seventeenth century for a lower surface. The figurative sense treats concealed or disreputable conditions as the part lying out of ordinary view.

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