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Undertow vs Crosscurrent - What's the difference?

undertow | crosscurrent |

In by extension terms the difference between undertow and crosscurrent

is that undertow is a feeling that runs contrary to one's normal one while crosscurrent is a situation in which there are conflicting opinions.

As nouns the difference between undertow and crosscurrent

is that undertow is a short-range flow of water returning seaward from the waves breaking on the shore while crosscurrent is a turbulent stretch of water caused by multiple currents.

As a verb undertow

is to pull or tow under; drag beneath; pull down.

undertow

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To pull or tow under; drag beneath; pull down.
  • * 1914 , Denton Jaques Snider, Lincoln at Richmond :
  • Off in a gallop the General wheeled vanishing, And sped his steed away into the blue, When Lineoln now alone let go his speech Which had before been undertowed by force, [...]
  • To pull down by, or as by, an undertow.
  • * 1998 , Richard Gough, David Williams, Ric Allsopp, Performance Research: On Place :
  • A sense that the air, a sighting of muddy river, or that outcrop of rock so implacably bland in the light of midday, is undertowed by memory.
  • * 2003 , Michael T. Leibig, Mike Leibig Traveling in Disguise :
  • I sink because I cannot swim, undertowed to the Centre, abandoning all remembrance of the surface toward the cloud of unknowing, without choice I'm pulled.
  • To flow or behave as an undertow.
  • * 1917 , The Unpopular review:
  • Everybody knows this and acts accordingly; but when you say it, it sounds bad and bold, and makes you uncomfortable to hear it, because the puritan blood is still undertowing in your veins.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A short-range flow of water returning seaward from the waves breaking on the shore.
  • A strong undertow may sweep a returning swimmer off their feet but it does not carry them far from the shore.
  • (by extension) A feeling that runs contrary to one's normal one.
  • See also

    * rip current

    crosscurrent

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) A turbulent stretch of water caused by multiple currents.
  • (by extension) A situation in which there are conflicting opinions.