(undertows)
1.
If there is an undertow of a feeling, that feeling exists in such a weak form that you are hardly aware of it, but it influences the way you think or behave.
...an undertow of sadness.
= undercurrent
N-COUNT: usu with supp
2.
An undertow is a strong current of water that is moving below the surface current and in a different direction to it.
= undercurrent
N-COUNT