undermine

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“
Barbara had convictions which her aunt was powerless to undermine, and seemed to set such a value upon herself that no man was able to make the slightest impression on her.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. transitive verb To weaken by wearing away a base or foundation: Water has undermined the stone foundations.
  2. transitive verb To weaken, injure, or impair, often by degrees or imperceptibly; sap: Late hours can undermine one's health.
  3. transitive verb To dig a mine or tunnel beneath.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • This high rate of contact between men and women raises important questions about how interaction creates experiences that confirm, or potentially could undermine, the beliefs about gender difference and inequality that underlie the gender system. —  CiteULike: Everyone's library
  • "I do not have the ability to undermine or open up the contract for concessions," Fillman said. —  News/local from www.dailyamerican.com
  • Because science is still such a resource it is imperative for powerful interests to try and co-opt, undermine, distort, influence or buy 'science'. —  Spinwatch
  • They know perfectly well that the State of Israel is not going to undermine or overthrow them, while radical Iranian-sponsored Islamists just might. —  The Captain's Journal
  • He has recommended that American lawyers work to "undermine" official American opposition to the court. —  2 Political Junkies
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This word has been looked up 126 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same contextWord Family

undermine:   undermining ·  undermined ·  undermines
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English underminen; from under + mine.
 

Pronunciations
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/əndərˈmaɪn/
by American Heritage

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