submarine

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UK/sʌb.məˈɹiːn/Northern England/sʊb.məˈɹiːn/Scotland/sʌb.məˈɾin/Wales/sʌb.məˈɾiːn/

adjective

Being, relating to, or made for use underwater, especially beneath the sea.

“a submarine patent”

Opposite
CommonScrabble 13

Meanings

adjectivesubmarine (not comparable)

alternative rare sub-marine

  1. not comparableBeing, relating to, or made for use underwater, especially beneath the sea.

    Near-synonym: submerged (synonymous in "being underwater" sense)

    1 more example

    […] a Chorus of Sea-nymphs, who[…] arrive, in a winged car, from the submarine palace of their father Oceanus.

    1908, Edmund Doidge Anderson Morshead, Four Plays of Aeschylus, Introduction, page xiv

    Synonyms: undersea, subsea, submerged

  2. not comparableHidden or undisclosed.

    a submarine patent

  3. not comparableball gamesOf a pitch, thrown with the hand lower than the elbow.

    When Peterson saw the unusual pitching motion of Kent Tekulve—the submarine pitcher who threw baseballs as though they were coming right out of the rubber slab on the mound—he was the first of many who tried to change Tekulve's delivery.

    2005, John McCollister, Tales from the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates: Remembering "The Fam-A-Lee", →ISBN, page 109
nounsubmarine (plural submarines)

plural submarines · alternative rare sub-marine

  1. nauticalA boat that can go underwater.

    Me: *staring out window* looks like rain Submarine captain: what Me: but like more

    2020 January 23, @PleaseBeGneiss, Twitter, archived from the original on 29 Jun 2024

    Synonyms: U-boat · Antonyms: surface ship

  2. alternativeAlternative form of submarine sandwich.
  3. ball gamesA pitch delivered with an underhand motion.
  4. informalA stowaway on a seagoing vessel.
verbsubmarine (third-person singular simple present submarines, present participle submarining, simple past and past participle submarined)

present singular third person submarines · participle present submarining · participle past submarined · past submarined · alternative rare sub-marine

  1. intransitiveTo operate or serve on a submarine.
  2. transitiveTo torpedo; to destroy with a sudden sneak attack.

    “We’re really at the point of chicken, where the Fed is trying to ward off inflation without submarining the economy.”

    2007 April 13, The Associated Press, “Shares Up as Investors Ponder Retail Data”, in New York Times
  3. figurativelyintransitivesometimesTo sink or submerge oneself.

    The second their center snapped the ball, I submarined between the big guy's legs and tackled the halfback.

    2003, Homer H. Grantham, Thunder in the Morning: A World War II Memoir, page 1
    1 more example

    Ten days later, the full force of what happened crushed me. I submarined into the depths of disillusionment.

    2013, Gordon MacDonald, Building Below the Waterline, page 234
  4. intransitiveautomotiveTo slide forwards underneath one's seat belt (during a crash or sudden stop).

    The seatback should always be up while driving so that the occupant doesn't submarine and potentially suffer severe internal injury.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveBeing, relating to, or made for use underwater, especially beneath the sea.

nounA boat that can go underwater.

Similar
Opposite

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivebeneath the surface of the sea

nouna submersible warship usually armed with torpedoes

Similar
Broader
submersiblesubmersible warship

nouna large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*upó
  2. Proto-Italic*supo
  3. Latinsub
  4. Latinsub-
  5. Englishsub-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*mer-?
  7. Proto-Indo-European*móri
  8. Proto-Italic*mari
  9. Latinmare
  10. Latinmarīnus
  11. Old Frenchmarin
  12. Middle Frenchmarin
  13. Middle Englishmarin
  14. Englishmarine
  15. Englishsubmarine

From sub- + marine.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans duikboot
  • duikbootundersea boat
Ancient Greek ὕφαλος
  • ὕφαλος (húphalos)undersea
Arabic غَوَّاصَة, غَوَّاصَة
  • غَوَّاصَة (ḡawwāṣa)undersea boat
  • غَوَّاصَة (ḡawwāṣa)undersea boat
Bengali সাবমেরিন
  • সাবমেরিন (sabmerin)undersea boat
Bulgarian подво́ден, подво́дница
  • подво́ден (podvóden)undersea
  • подво́дница (podvódnica)undersea boat
Catalan submarí, submarí
  • submaríundersea
  • submaríundersea boat
Chinese Mandarin 水下的, 海底的
  • 水下的 (shuǐxià de)undersea
  • 海底的 (hǎidǐ de)undersea
  • 潛艇 /潜艇 (qiántǐng)undersea boat
  • 潛水艇 /潜水艇 (qiánshuǐtǐng)undersea boat
Czech podmořský, ponorka
  • podmořskýundersea
  • ponorkaundersea boat
Danish submarin, ubåd
  • submarinundersea
  • ubådundersea boat
Dutch onderwater-, onderzees
  • onderwater-undersea
  • onderzeesundersea
  • onderzeeërundersea boat
  • duikbootundersea boat
  • onderzeebootundersea boat
Esperanto submara, submarŝipo
  • submaraundersea
  • submarŝipoundersea boat
Estonian allveelaev
  • allveelaevundersea boat
Finnish merenalainen, vedenalainen
  • merenalainenundersea
  • vedenalainenundersea
  • sukellusveneundersea boat
  • subisandwich
French sous-marin, sous-marin
  • sous-marinundersea
  • sous-marinundersea boat
German submarin, unterseeisch
  • submarinundersea
  • unterseeischundersea
  • untermeerischundersea
  • unterwasser-undersea
  • Unterseebootundersea boat
  • U-Bootundersea boat
  • Unterwasserbootundersea boat
Greek υποβρύχιος, υποβρύχιο
  • υποβρύχιος (ypovrýchios)undersea
  • υποβρύχιο (ypovrýchio)undersea boat
Hawaiian mokuluʻu
  • mokuluʻuundersea boat
Hebrew צוֹלֶלֶת
  • צוֹלֶלֶת (tsolelet)undersea boat
Hindi पनडुब्बी
  • पनडुब्बी (panḍubbī)undersea boat
Hungarian tengeralattjáró
  • tengeralattjáróundersea boat
Icelandic kafbátur
  • kafbáturundersea boat
Indonesian kapal selam
  • kapal selamundersea boat
Irish fomhuirí, faoi uisce
  • fomhuiríundersea
  • faoi uisceundersea
  • fomhuireánundersea boat
Italian sottomarino, sommergibile
  • sottomarinoundersea
  • sommergibileundersea
  • sottomarinoundersea boat
  • sommergibileundersea boat
Japanese 潜水艦, サブマリン
  • 潜水艦 (sensuikan)undersea boat
  • サブマリン (sabumarin)undersea boat
Korean 잠수함
  • 잠수함 (jamsuham)undersea boat
Latin navis submarina, submarina
  • navis submarinaundersea
  • submarinaundersea
Latvian zemūdens, zemūdene
  • zemūdensundersea
  • zemūdeneundersea boat
Lithuanian submarinas
  • submarinasundersea boat
Malay kapal selam
  • kapal selamundersea boat
Māori raro wai, waka ruku
  • raro waiundersea
  • waka rukuundersea boat
  • waka whakatakereundersea boat
Norwegian Bokmål ubåt, undervannsbåt
  • ubåtundersea boat
  • undervannsbåtundersea boat
Polish podwodny, podmorski
  • podwodnyundersea
  • podmorskiundersea
  • okręt podwodnyundersea boat
  • łódź podwodnaundersea boat
Portuguese submarino, submarino
  • submarinoundersea
  • submarinoundersea boat
Punjabi ਪਣਡੁੱਬੀ
  • ਪਣਡੁੱਬੀ (paṇḍubbī)undersea boat
Romanian submarin, submarin
  • submarinundersea
  • submarinundersea boat
Russian подво́дный, подмо́рский
  • подво́дный (podvódnyj)undersea
  • подмо́рский (podmórskij)undersea
  • подво́дная ло́дка (podvódnaja lódka)undersea boat
  • подло́дка (podlódka)undersea boat
  • субмари́на (submarína)undersea boat
  • субмари́на (submarína)sandwich
Scottish Gaelic bàt'-aigeil, bàta-tumaidh
  • bàt'-aigeilundersea boat
  • bàta-tumaidhundersea boat
Slovak podmorský, ponorka
  • podmorskýundersea
  • ponorkaundersea boat
Spanish submarino, submarino
  • submarinoundersea
  • submarinoundersea boat
  • sumergibleundersea boat
  • ictíneoundersea boat
  • batiscafoundersea boat
  • sándwich submarinosandwich
  • emparedado submarinosandwich
Swahili nyambizi, sabmarini
  • nyambiziundersea boat
  • sabmariniundersea boat
Swedish undervattens-, ubåt
  • undervattens-undersea
  • ubåtundersea boat
  • undervattensbåtundersea boat
Tagalog submarino
  • submarinoundersea boat
Thai เรือดำน้ำ
  • เรือดำน้ำ (rʉʉa-dam-náam)undersea boat
Turkish denizaltı, tahtelbahir
  • denizaltıundersea boat
  • tahtelbahirundersea boat
Ukrainian підво́дний, підво́дний чо́вен
  • підво́дний (pidvódnyj)undersea
  • підво́дний чо́вен (pidvódnyj čóven)undersea boat
  • субмари́на (submarýna)undersea boat
Urdu آبْدوز, آب دوز
  • آبْدوز (ābdoz)undersea boat
  • آب دوز (āb doz)undersea boat
Vietnamese tàu ngầm
  • tàu ngầmundersea boat
Welsh tanfor, llong danfor
  • tanforundersea
  • llong danforundersea boat
  • suddlongundersea boat
Yiddish סובמאַרין
  • סובמאַרין (submarin)undersea boat

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with submarine

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

submarine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/submarine

MLA

“submarine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/submarine. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “submarine,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/submarine.

Source: submarine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.