Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To underline.
  • transitive verb To put emphasis on; stress.
  • transitive verb To cause to appear important or deserving of attention.
  • noun A line drawn under writing or text to indicate emphasis or italic type.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A line drawn beneath a written or printed word or passage, as for emphasis.
  • To draw a mark or line under; underline, as for emphasis.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To draw a mark or line under; to underline.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An underline; a line drawn or printed beneath text; the character _.
  • noun music A piece of background music.
  • verb To underline; to mark a line beneath text.
  • verb To emphasize or draw attention to.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a line drawn underneath (especially under written matter)
  • verb draw a line or lines underneath to call attention to
  • verb give extra weight to (a communication)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From under- +‎ score.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Also known as an understrike: ______________________

    July 31, 2008

  • UNDERSCORES_RULE!!!!!!!!!

    July 18, 2009

  • verb: give extra weight to (a communication)

    While the hiking instructor agreed that carrying a first aid kit could be a good idea under certain circumstances, he underscored the importance of carrying enough water.

    October 19, 2016