undercut

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To diminish or destroy the province or effectiveness of; undermine: "This celebration of opulence and wealth and power undercuts the character of the Statue of Liberty” ( Jesse Jackson). "The partnership between the United States and Western Europe is undercut by diverging economic interests” ( Scott Sullivan).
2. v. To sell at a lower price than or to work for lower wages or fees than (a competitor).
3. v. To make a cut under or below.
4. v. To create an overhang by cutting material away from, as in carving.
5. v. Sports To impart backspin to (a ball) by striking downward as well as forward, as in golf and baseball.
6. v. Sports To cut or slice (a ball) with an underarm stroke, as in tennis.
7. v. To engage in undercutting.
8. n. A cut made in the under part to remove material.
9. n. The material so removed.
10. n. A notch cut in a tree to direct its fall and insure a clean break.
11. n. Chiefly British The tenderloin of beef; the fillet.
12. n. Sports A spin given to a ball opposite to its direction of flight; a backspin.
13. n. Sports A cut or slice imparting such a spin.
14. n. Sports A cut or slice made with an underarm motion.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. In golf, to hit (the ball), by baffing or otherwise, so that it rises high in the air, and will not, owing to its spin, roll far after aligbting.
2. In pugilism, to hit with an upward blow.
3. n. In lumbering, the notch cut in a tree to determine the direction in which the tree is to fall and to prevent splitting. Also called notch and nick.
4. n. In mining, the opening along the vein which is made at the bottom of the seam or below the ore-body, so that the shot or blast, or any subsequent cutting, shall cause the ore to fall downward when loosened.
5. n. Any part of the pattern used in foundry-molding which is outside of perpendiculars or normals to the face of the parting plane of the flask, so that, in drawing the pattern the sand would be unavoidably torn away by it, or which prevents the drawing of the pattern altogether. It is the reverse of taper.
6. Descriptive of a bookbinders’ machine that cuts paper from the under side.
7. Noting a photo-engraved plate in which the acid lias bitten too much under the lines.
8. In carving and sculpture, to cut away the material so that the part affected (of the figure or design) stands free of the background, or overhangs: as, the carving of the frieze is much undercut.
9. n. Same as tenderloin.

Wiktionary

1. n. A cut made in the lower part of something; the material so removed.
2. n. The notch cut in a tree to direct its fall when being felled.
3. v. To sell (something) at a lower price, or to work for lower wages, than a competitor.
4. v. To create an overhang by cutting away material from underneath.
5. v. To undermine.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The lower or under side of a sirloin of beef; the fillet.
2. v. To cut away, as the side of an object, so as to leave an overhanging portion.
3. v. to sell goods or services at a price below that of (the competition or a competitor's price).
4. v. to weaken the effectiveness of; to undermine or sabotage (an activity).
5. v. (Forestry) To cut a notch in one side of (a tree) so as to control the direction in which the tree falls when it is felled.
6. adj. Cut away below.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the material removed by a cut made underneath
2. v. sell cheaper than one's competition
3. v. cut away material from the underside of (an object) so as to leave an overhanging portion in relief
4. v. cut away the underpart of
5. n. a cut made underneath to remove material
6. v. strike (the ball) in golf, tennis, or hockey obliquely downward so as to give a backspin or elevation to the shot
7. v. cut obliquely into (a tree) below the main cut and on the side toward which the tree will fall
8. n. the tender meat of the loin muscle on each side of the vertebral column
9. n. (sports) a stroke that puts reverse spin on the ball
10. n. a notch cut in the trunk of tree in order to determine the direction of its fall