undersee

present singular third person undersees · participle present underseeing · past undersaw · participle past underseen

1. transitiveTo see or look under or below; see below the surface of.

   Newfoundland guides, trying to point out to a fisherman a salmon in the water, may say: "You have to undersee the shine." Ken has a remarkable ability to "undersee the shine." He is not deceived by surfaces.

   1938, Saturday review of literature, volume 18

2. transitiveTo look intently into; examine; inspect.

   At these less visible but still crucial levels, a substantial military presence would appear to have strengthened the capacity of the government to implement policy, by toughening the chain of command and by enabling officers to play watchdog roles "underseeing" civilian ministers.

   1978, Karl D. Jackson, Lucian W. Pye, Political power and communications in Indonesia

3. raretransitiveTo neglect; fail to see properly or adequately; turn a blind eye to; ignore.

   But he didn't read books; he only oversaw, or undersaw, the niggling details of their mass production.

   2002, Nicholas Weinstock, As Long As She Needs Me

   1 more example

   Perhaps I was too fond of him at one time—perhaps too fond still—to be entirely fair to his work—Perhaps “oversaw” it formerly—when he potentially lived in me—& “undersee” it now when I am impatient with all tricks […]

   2011, Georgia O'Keeffe, Sarah Greenough, My Faraway One

4. humorousnonce wordtransitiveTo supervise from below.

   Damien took an alternate route to oversee (or, more accurately, undersee) the execution of his dirty work.

   2010, Wendelin Van Draanen, Stephen Gilpin, The Power Potion