go underground
Vanish from sight
To go underground is to move into hiding or secrecy, especially to avoid detection by authorities.
Political dissidents go underground during crackdowns; criminals go underground when police are searching for them.
The phrase evokes disappearing from public view as if descending beneath the surface: After the coup, opposition leaders went underground.
It can also mean shifting to covert operations: The resistance movement went underground but continued recruiting.
Depart swiftly from threat
- evadeEscape by cunning
- abscondFlee to avoid capture
- disappearPass from visibility
- vanishCease to be visible
defect · exfiltrate · elude · hideout · refuge · sanctuary · asylum · safehouse
Intentionally concealed
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
- secretiveInclined to conceal
- hiddenKept out of sight
- subversiveSeeking to undermine authority
resistance · guerrilla · insurgent · dissident · illicit · conspiracy · cell · operative
flee
Depart swiftly from threat
vanish · defect · exfiltrate · elude · hideout · refuge · sanctuary · asylum · safehouse · bolthole
covert
Intentionally concealed
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
- secretiveInclined to conceal
- hiddenKept out of sight
subversive · resistance · guerrilla · insurgent · dissident · illicit · conspiracy · cell · operative · samizdat
tunnel
Enclosed underground route
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
- cellarUnderground storage room
- basementSubterranean building level
subway · metro · catacomb · cavern · mine · burrow · depths · tube · underpass · sewer
- escapeescape, flee, run away, get away, flight
- hidinghide, conceal, take cover, hole up, hunker down
go undergroundsurface
Outermost boundary layer
go public · emerge · expose oneself · parade · show one's face
go undergroundtake a stand
Publicly commit to a position
face the music · come out swinging · hold one's ground · make a stand
go undergroundsurrender
Cease resistance, yield
capitulate · submit · come in from the cold · come clean · face the music
gone, going, underground, submerge, subterranean, undergrounds