a. and sb. [SUB- 1 a.] A. adj.
1. Existing or lying under the surface of the sea.
1668. Wilkins, Real Char., II. iii. 62. A sub-marine Plant.
1670. Boyle, Tracts, Submarine Regions, i. 3. By the Appellation of Submarine Regions ’tis not to be supposed that the places so called are below the Bottom of the Sea, but only below the surface of it.
1796. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), IV. 87. This Fucus is found on submarine rocks at very low water.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., III. 24. A vast submarine region, such as the bed of the western Atlantic.
1859. Darwin, Orig. Spec., xii. 395. The islands are situated on moderately deep submarine banks.
1877. Huxley, Physiogr., 198. Submarine volcanoes occasionally give rise to new land.
2. Operating or operated, constructed or laid, intended for use under the surface of the sea.
Submarine boat, a boat so designed that it can be submerged, and propelled when under water, used chiefly for carrying and discharging torpedoes. Submarine mine, a charge of explosives, moored at or beneath the surface of the sea, intended by its explosion on impact to put a hostile vessel out of action immediately.
1648. Wilkins, Math. Magick, II. v. 178. Concerning the possibility of framing an Ark for submarine Navigations. Ibid., 182. These submarine Navigators will want the usuall advantages of winds and tides for motion.
1784. Cowper, Task, IV. 85. Submarine exploits.
1840. Mech. Mag., 19 Sept., 320. Spithead has been … a scene of diversified exertion in submarine work.
1855. Lardner’s Mus. Sci. & Art, III. 159. It is proposed to connect Orfordness … with the Hague, by seven separate submarine cables.
1860. Prescott, Electr. Telegr., 179. The wires of a submarine telegraph.
1860. Maury, Phys. Geog., ii. 30. Currents, for the most part, and for great distances, are submarine.
1861. Jrnl. Chem. Soc., XIV. 193. Applying the magneto-electric current to the ignition of submarine charges.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 664. Submarine Thermometer, an instrument for trying the temperature of the sea at different depths.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Submarine Boat, a vessel constructed to navigate beneath the surface of the water.
1889. [see SUBMERSIBLE a.].
1900. E. Robertson, in 19th Cent., May, 722. Why it [sc. the naval programme] does not contain … any provision for submarine or submersible boats.
B. sb.
1. A submarine creature; † a submarine plant, coral, etc.
1703. Phil. Trans., XXIII. 1419. A Description of some Coralls, and other curious Submarines.
1756. J. Hill, Brit. Herbal, 533. Grassy Alga … is the only submarine which has a regular root.
1839. Hood, Sub-marine, 68. With open’d mouth and open’d eyes, Up rose the Sub-marine.
2. A submarine mine.
1886. Pall Mall Gaz., 28 July, 6/2. Suppose you lay down submarines to help the defence; without a flotilla, how are you going to stop the enemy from taking them up or destroying them at night?
3. A submarine boat: see A 2.
1899. Westm. Gaz., 2 Feb., 7/1. The submarine was no longer there. She was hidden from our fire and from our view.
1900. Daily Mail, 4 May, 4/3. The submarine has been adopted by the French navy as a means of gaining control of the Channel.
Hence Submarine v. trans., to attack with a submarine; Submarinist, an advocate of submarine boats.
1900. E. Robertson, in 19th Cent., May, 722. The confident statements of the French submarinists.
1914. Land & Water, 19 Sept., 17*. Having been submarined and beached.
