Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To do to an insufficient degree, especially to cook for too short a time.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To put under; subject.
- To do less thoroughly than is requisite; especially, to cook insufficiently: as, the beef is underdone.
- To act below one's abilities; do less than one can.
- To do less than is requisite.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive, obsolete To put under, subject.
- v. transitive To do something insufficiently; especially to undercook.
- v. intransitive To act below one's abilities; do less than one can.
- v. intransitive To do less than is requisite.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To do less than is requisite or proper; -- opposed to
overdo . - v. To do less thoroughly than is requisite; specifically, to cook insufficiently; ; -- opposed to
overdo .
Etymologies
- From Middle English underdon, from Old English underdōn ("to put under"), from Proto-Germanic *under + *dōnan (“to put”), equivalent to under- + do. Cognate with German unterthun ("to put under, subject"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“And if you try to 'underdo' it, you often end up with an expression that isn't cleary recognizable to the viewer.”
“We were going to 'underdo' everybody else," he said.”
“A "surgical" strike would do neither and would also violate the Powell doctrine that in military actions one should never underdo.”
“I think McLame is trying really hard to look all Mavericky and because he's, well, old, he is over doing it because if you haven't noticed, the elderly don't tend to underdo much of anything.”
“Our new path will be to underdo: smaller, clean energy houses and smarter buying habits.”
Jessica Catto: House of Chutzpah, House of Cards, or Back to the Future Again
“ROBERTS: Right, but you don't want to underdo it either.”
“A young fellow should be ambitious to shine in everything — and, of the two, always rather overdo than underdo.”
Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman
“So, we don't want to overdo it, but I certainly don't want to underdo it either.”
“They either overdo or underdo and fail to become balanced.”
“Each poultry keeper will have to accommodate the size of his flock to his own particular circumstances, being careful not to overdo or underdo too far.”
From Captivity to Fame or The Life of George Washington Carver
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