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Below vs Bottom - What's the difference?

below | bottom |

In nautical terms the difference between below and bottom

is that below is on a lower deck while bottom is certain parts of a vessel, particularly the cargo hold or the portion of the ship that is always underwater.

As a preposition below

is lower in spatial position than.

As an adverb below

is in a lower place.

As a noun bottom is

the lowest part from the uppermost part, in either of these senses.

As a verb bottom is

to fall to the lowest point.

As an adjective bottom is

the lowest or last place or position.

below

English

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • Lower in spatial position than.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.}}
  • Lower in value, price, rank or concentration than.
  • * Addison
    • one degree below kings
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Philip J. Bushnell, magazine=(American Scientist)
    • , title= Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance , passage=Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.}}
  • Downstream of.
  • South of.
  • Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of; beneath.
  • * (John Milton)
    • They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, how below all history the persons and their actions were.
  • * Hallam
    • who thinks no fact below his regard
  • (stage directions) Downstage of.
  • * 1952 , (Frederick Knott), , 1954 (Dramatists Play Service) acting edition, act 1, scene 1:
    • Below the sofa is a low, round coffee table.

    Synonyms

    * (lower in spatial position than) beneath, under, underneath * (lower in value than) under * (downstream of) downstream * (unsuitable to the rank or dignity of) beneath

    Antonyms

    * (lower in spatial position than) above, over * (lower in value than) over * (downstream of) upstream

    Derived terms

    * below the belt

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In a lower place.
  • *
  • *:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ΒΆ.
  • On a lower storey.
  • Further down.
  • (lb) On a lower deck.
  • :
  • (lb) Below zero.

    • Synonyms

    * (in a lower place) beneath, under, underneath * (on a lower storey) downstairs * (farther down) downwards

    Antonyms

    * (in a lower place) aloft, overhead, up * (on a lower storey) upstairs * (farther down) upwards

    Derived terms

    (below) * below average * below decks/belowdecks * belowground * below par * below the belt * below the fold

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The vertical axis", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 200 English basic words English locatives 1000 English basic words

    bottom

    English

    Noun

  • The lowest part from the uppermost part, in either of these senses:
  • # (rfc-sense) The part furthest in the direction toward which an unsupported object would fall.
  • #* Macaulay
  • barrels with the bottom knocked out
  • #* Washington Irving
  • No two chairs were alike; such high backs and low backs and leather bottoms and worsted bottoms.
  • # (rfc-sense) The part seen, or intended to be seen, nearest the edge of the visual field normally occupied by the lowest visible objects, as "footers appear at the bottoms of pages".
  • (uncountable, British, slang) Character, reliability, staying power, dignity, integrity or sound judgment.
    • lack bottom
  • (British, US) a valley, often used in place names.
    • Where shall we go for a walk? How about Ashcombe Bottom ?
  • * Stoddard
    • the bottoms and the high grounds
  • (euphemistic) The buttocks or anus.
  • (nautical) a cargo vessel, a ship.
  • * 1881 , :
    • We sail in leaky bottoms and on great and perilous waters; [...]
  • (nautical) certain parts of a vessel, particularly the cargo hold or the portion of the ship that is always underwater.
  • * Shakespeare
    • My ventures are not in one bottom trusted.
  • * Bancroft
    • Not to sell the teas, but to return them to London in the same bottoms in which they were shipped.
  • (baseball) The second half of an inning, the home team's turn to bat.
  • (BDSM) A submissive in sadomasochistic sexual activity.
  • (LGBT, slang) A man penetrated or with a preference for being penetrated during homosexual intercourse.
  • (physics) A bottom quark.
  • (often, figuratively) The lowest part of a container.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
    • , date=December 21 , author=Helen Pidd , title=Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=In Ireland, where 14.5% of the population are jobless, emigration has climbed steadily since 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the bottom fell out of the Irish housing market. In the 12 months to April this year, 40,200 Irish passport-holders left, up from 27,700 the previous year, according to the central statistics office. Irish nationals were by far the largest constituent group among emigrants, at almost 53%.}}
  • A ball or skein of thread; a cocoon.
  • * Mortimer
    • Silkworms finish their bottoms in fifteen days.
  • The bed of a body of water, as of a river, lake, or sea.
  • An abyss.
    • (Dryden)
  • (obsolete) Power of endurance.
    • a horse of a good bottom
  • (obsolete) Dregs or grounds; lees; sediment.
    • (Johnson)

    Synonyms

    * (lowest part) base * (buttocks) arse (British, Australian, NZ''), ass, fanny (''North American ), backside, bot, bott, botty, bum, buttocks * sit upon, derriere * (BDSM) catcher * (LGBT) catcher, passive, pathic, uke (Japanese fiction) * See also * See also

    Antonyms

    * (lowest part) top * (BDSM) top * (LGBT) active, pitcher, top, versatile

    Related terms

    * bot * bottom feeder * bottom fishing * bottom land * bottom line * bottom-most * bottom out * bottoms up * bottom-up * rock bottom * top to bottom * wind up one's bottoms * bottomer * bottom bitch * power bottom

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fall to the lowest point.
  • * John J. Murphy, Intermarket Analysis: Profiting from Global Market Relationships (2004) p. 119:
    • The Dow Jones Industrial Average bottomed''' on September 24, 2001. The CRB Index '''bottomed on October 24.
  • To establish firmly; to found or justify on'' or ''upon'' something; to set on a firm footing; to set or rest ''on'' or ''upon something which provides support or authority.
  • * Atterbury
    • Action is supposed to be bottomed upon principle.
  • * South
    • those false and deceiving grounds upon which many bottom their eternal state
  • * United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Executive Orders and Presidential Directives , (2001) p.59.
    • Moreover, the Supreme Court has held that the President must obey outstanding executive orders, even when bottomed on the Constitution, until they are revoked.
  • To rest, as upon an ultimate support; to be based or grounded.
  • * John Locke
    • Find on what foundation any proposition bottoms .
  • To reach or impinge against the bottom, so as to impede free action, as when the point of a cog strikes the bottom of a space between two other cogs, or a piston the end of a cylinder.
  • (obsolete) To wind round something, as in making a ball of thread.
  • * Shakespeare
    • As you unwind her love from him, / Lest it should ravel and be good to none, / You must provide to bottom it on me.
  • To furnish with a bottom.
    • to bottom a chair
  • To be the submissive in a BDSM relationship or roleplay.
  • To be anally penetrated in gay sex.

    • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • The lowest or last place or position.
    • ''Those files should go on the bottom shelf.