go underground
(figurative, by extension, chiefly, North America) To withdraw from public view or to seclude oneself, particularly to avoid detection or scrutiny by the authorities, members of the media, or other in
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Because we didn't punish the South enough. We let it simmer, go underground, laughed at it, made fun of it. Then they organized with their churches, their sons and grandsons of plantation owners paid for it.
You can have neat or you can have democratic but you can't have both. And if you try for neat all the power struggles just go underground and get more toxic, so it'd be a phyrric victory even if you could pull it off.
Definitions
(figurative, by extension, chiefly, North America) To withdraw from public view or to seclude oneself, particularly to avoid detection or scrutiny by the authorities, members of the media, or other interested parties.
Comments
(intransitive, especially of an animal, chiefly, North America) To escape into a burrow, hole, etc. when being hunted.
“Because we didn't punish the South enough. We let it simmer, go underground, laughed at it, made fun of it. Then they organized with their churches, their sons and grandsons of plantation owners paid for it.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“You can have neat or you can have democratic but you can't have both. And if you try for neat all the power struggles just go underground and get more toxic, so it'd be a phyrric victory even if you could pull it off.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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Semantically related
- go to ground85%
(idiomatic, by extension) To hide from public view or sequester oneself, especially when authorities, members of the news media, or others are looking for one.
- go to ground74%
(intransitive, mostly, UK) Of an animal, to escape into a burrow, hole, etc. when being hunted.
- go to earth73%
(UK, figurative, by extension) Of a person, to hide from someone or something, to escape.
- go to earth73%
(UK) Of a hunted animal, to hide underground.