underhead

English

Etymology

From under- +‎ head.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈʌndə(ɹ)hɛd/
Audio (US): (file)

Noun

underhead (plural underheads)

(obsolete) A blockhead, or stupid person; a dunderhead.
- 1642, [Thomas Browne], “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici, London: […] Andrew Crooke, →OCLC:
  wiser discretions, that have the thread of reason to conduct them, offend without a pardon; whereas underheads may stumble without dishonour.
- 1697, Mary Pix, The Innocent Mistress:
  Well, booby, what's that to you, underhead?
The area directly below the head of something. (any sense)
- 1973, Maurice William Ranney, Lubricant Additives - Issue 2, page 50:
  Data in the column headed "Underhead" are demerit ratings related to the degree of darkening of the underhead. A rating of 0 indicates a completely black underhead, while a rating of 10 indicates a completely clean underhead.
- 1981, Wear and Fracture Prevention, page 293:
  The valves were removed from the engine at 25 hour intervals and zyglo inspected for cracks in the underhead and stem.
- 1983, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Annual Report - Volume 88, page 37:
  Other important tasks accomplished were the removal of the neutron shield tanks, decontamination of the reactor building air coolers, closed-circuit television inspection of the 282 ft. elevation, raising and parking of all eight axial-power-shaping rod leadscrews, and first steps toward a complete characterization of radiological conditions of the reactor-vessel underhead.
- 2006, Keith Fulsher, Thunder Creek Flies, page 61:
  The shape of the underhead is very important: it determines the tightness of the reversed bucktail and the shape of the finished head.
- 2008, Mike Mavrigian, High Performance Fasteners and Plumbing, page 5:
  However, if the bolt or screw is the flat-top design (where the top is flat and the underhead is chamfered for a countersunk fit) , length always denotes overall length, from top of the head to the tip of the threads.
The base of a railroad track.
- 1877 March 2, James Liveset, “Letters”, in Engineering, volume 23, page 164:
  So far as absolute strength for carying the load is concerned, this reduction of area need cause no alarm, but the effect of the indentation of the underhead or base of the rail is a different and I fear a serious matter, because it is well known, that it indent a piece of steel and subject it to a blow produces immediate fracture […] ,
- 1917, Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Railway Bridge and Building Association:
  The bolt holes are then redrilled and a good square-ended, but slightly shortened, rail with a full underhead section for the splice bar is obtained at slight cost, that will give good service when relaid.
- 1941, “2265128 Railway Rail”, in Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, page 295:
  In a rail splicing structure, a rail and splice bars disposed for cooperative bolting assembly therewith , the rail having a new underhead formation as compared with a standard rail of substantially equal cross-sectional area, said new underhead formation comprising outer bottom corner fillets extending downwardly and inwardly from approximately the gauge line […]
(manufacturing, accounting, dated) direct costs.
- 1911, National Brick Manufacturers' Association of the United States of America, Official Report, Annual Convention, page 113:
  I think prices would go up, for I know something of the importance of overhead and underhead cost as affecting the price of the goods you have to sell.
- 1911, Industrial Refrigeration - Volumes 40-41, page 224:
  Mr. M. Caflisch of the Bronx Consumers' Ice Co., New York City, was requested to address the convention and spoke briefly on the necessity for knowing the actual total cost of manufacturing and handling ice as well as of harvesting, storing and selling ice, for he thought if ice men really understood how much the "overhead" and "underhead" cost is, they would hesitate at the price cutting that was so evident in some sections during the past Summer and prevented dealers in those sections from making a reasonable profit in spite of the excellent season which they enjoyed.
- 1961, AMA Management Bulletin - Issues 13-24, page 9:
  Periodically appraise the organization structure to determine what adjustments are needed to improve operating effectiveness and to reduce total costs, both overhead and underhead.
- 2011, Jon Sharpe, The Trailsman #359: Platte River Gauntlet, page 21:
  But I have expenses to consider. Do you know what they are? And then there's my overhead and my underhead and my in-betweens.

Adjective

underhead (not comparable)

(engineering) Beneath the head of a mechanical component.
- 1984 January-February, G. Kalman, R. Weller, “Progress in the Recovery Operations at Three Mile Island Unit 2”, in Nuclear Safety, volume 25, number 1, page 102:
  In preparation for reactor pressure vessel head lift, an underhead radiation survey was performed on Dec. 16 , 1982 , to determine radiation levels in the area between the top of the plenum assembly and the reactor vessel head .
- 1995, Joseph Harralson, Design of Racing and High Performance Engines, page 158:
  With large underhead radius shown to be optimum in a given case, the judgment must be made as to whether the valve weight increase is justified in improved engine performance.
- 2008, Larry Shepard, The Mopar Six-Pack Engine Handbook HP1528, page 94:
  The underhead shape on valves can come in all angles which are grouped into nailhead (almost flat) and tulip.
- 2008, Tomotsugu Sakai, Bolted Joint Engineering, page 108:
  To prevent a bolt from breaking at its underhead area, an underhead radius must be provided.
(of a railroad crossing) Such that the train track goes over the pathway of cars or pedestrians.
- 1900, Charter and Revised Ordinances of Fort Worth, Texas: 1900, page 354:
  The Missouri Pacific Railway agrees that there may be an underhead crossing of its tracks north of the Union Depot, at such point as may be most convenient to both parties, and corresponding with the underhead crossing of the Texas and Pacific Railway, above mentioned;
- 1911, Reports of cases argued and determined in Ohio courts of record:
  That about midway between the old crossings it proposes to construct an undergrade way to join the Wenrick pike on the north side of said railroad; that said railway company will turn the Stoner road west on a new way and compel users of the Stoner road, going north, to turn west 772 feet to the underhead way,m pass out on the underhead way 209 feet to the Wenrick pike, then go east on the Wenrick pike 706 feet, where they again strick the Stoner road;
- 1921, Railroad Commission of Wisconsin, Opinions and Decisions of the Railroad Commission:
  We further find that the viaduct or overhead plan will be more economical than the subway or underhead plan.
- 1931, Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Annual Report, page 481:
  On August 7, 1929, complaint was filed with the Corporation Commission by the Board of County Commissioners of Oklahoma County asking for underhead crossing on Grand Boulevard on East Reno, in Oklahoma City, where same intersects the Frisco's right-of-way, stating that the present trestle has opening of 13 ft. between bent, making said underhead crossing dangerous, […]
(film, lighting) Coming from below.
- 1931, Lighting - Volumes 20-21, page 14:
  It should almost be a lighting axiom therefore, that brilliant underhead light sources are taboo for esthetic purposes.
- 1994, Jay Scott, Great Scott!: The Best of Jay Scott's Movie Reviews, page 315:
  Throughout Good-Fellas, Scorsese is at great pains to remind us that we are watching a movie —there are freeze frames, over- and underhead angles, expressionist lighting (a funeral scene is scarlet), and at least one moment during which a character addresses us directly.
- 2014, Thomas M. Sipos, Horror Film Aesthetics: Creating the Visual Language of Fear, page 151:
  Overhead and underhead lighting, especially when the lighting is hard, and is the sole illumination (i.e., no fill lights), can cast actors in an "ominous light." distorting their faces with creepy shadows, or hiding their eyes (the windows to the soul) in darkness.

Adverb

underhead (comparative more underhead, superlative most underhead)

In an underhead location.
- 1917, Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Railway Bridge and Building Association:
  To offset this on the second piers, 4-in. hard pine plank casing was installed on the inside form with 1 in. by 12 in. lag screws screwed into the inner surface and allowed to project back into the concrete about 9 in. with pressed washers underhead.
- 1940, Happy Valley: A Novel, page 84:
  The pillow was warm underhead, the kind of warmth that is slightly perverse and misplaced, the warmth of a bed after lunch, as you rub your cheek against the linen and wonder what you can do.

Anagrams

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