See Also: lower lid(medicine)
lower lip(medicine)
lower(1)(dictionary)
lower jaw(medicine)
Lower(finance)
lower(2)(dictionary)
lower heating value(medicine)
lower eyelid(medicine)
lower extremity(medicine)
lower airway(medicine)

lower(1) (iou)



lower adjective, noun3, & adverb. ME.
[from LOW adjective + -ER3.]
A. adjective.
Compar. of LOW adjective. ME.
spec. Designating a thing or person less high in position, degree, or status than, or situated below, another of the same. L16.
lower intestine, lower lip, etc.
b. Designating (part of) a region, river, etc., situated on less high land, or to the south, or towards the sea. Usu. opp. upper. E17.
Lower California, Lower Egypt, the lower Danube, etc.
c. Biology. Of an organism or group: less advanced, primitive in organization. Opp. higher. L18.
d. Geology & Archaeology. (Freq. Lower.) Designating an older, and hence usu. deeper, part of a stratigraphic division, archaeological deposit, etc., or the period in which it was formed or deposited. Opp. upper. M19.
Lower Carboniferous, Lower Triassic, etc.
Special collocations, comb., & phrases: lower case: see CASE noun2. Lower Chamber = Lower House below. Lower Chinook: see CHINOOK 1. lower-class adjective of or pertaining to the lower or working class; derog. common, vulgar. lower class(es) (the members of) the working class. lower court a court subject to overruling by another on appeal etc. lower deck (a) the deck of a ship situated immediately above the orlop deck; (b) the petty officers and men of a ship collectively. lower fourth, lower fifth a lower division of a fourth, fifth, form in a secondary school. Lower House one of the houses of a legislature consisting of two houses, usu. the larger and more representative one, often dealing with legislation before the Upper House; esp. the House of Commons. lower jaw: see JAW noun1 1. lower orders = lower classes above. lower pastern: see PASTERN 2c. lower regions = lower world below. lower school in a secondary school, (the pupils in) the forms below the fifth. lower second the lower division of a second-class honours degree. lower sixth a lower division of a sixth form in a secondary school. lower world (a) earth as opp. to heaven; (b) hell; the realm of the dead. lower yield point: see YIELD verb. the lower criticism: see CRITICISM 2.
b. noun.
An inferior person or thing. ME.
A lower plate of artificial teeth. L19.
C. adverb. Compar. of LOW adverb. M16.
lowermost adjective & adverb lowest M16.