Obs. [UNDER-1 9 and 6 b.]
1. Hidden or secret craft or cunning.
c. 1400. Pilgr. Sowle, I. xxii. (1859), 27. If thou be vnwise how that thy sowle asayled is with synne and vndercraft.
2. A sly, underhand trick.
1691. Norris, Pract. Disc., 11. Are not … the little Undercrafts of the Plebeian all put into Motion by this Spring?
1765. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, VII. xix. ’Tis an undercraft of authors to keep up a good understanding amongst words, as politicians do amongst men.
3. attrib. Belonging to inferior crafts.
1723. Dk. Wharton, True Briton, No. 59. 23 Dec., 2/1. The Under-Craft Traders; such as Tide-waiters, Tidesmen, and Supernumeraries.
