Definition of "undertow" []

• An underwater current flowing strongly away from the shore, usually caused by the seaward return of water from waves that have broken against the shore. (noun)
• A tendency, especially in thought or feeling, contrary to what seems the strongest: "As she talks nostalgically of her days of glory . . . a poignant undertow emerges” ( Tina Brown). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In some areas, people have used the term undertow to describe the combination of being knocked down, pulled out and submerged due to a lack of swimming ability and or lack of knowing what to do to escape."
• "Only I'm still struggling against the current it seems. that damn undertow is a bitch, you know?"
• "There is, in the easternmost fork of the Vingaard River, a sudden surge in the midstream current even more powerful than the steady undertow which is the constant bane of the rivermen and of those who foolishly try to cross."