undermine

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To dig underneath (something), to make a passage for destructive or military purposes

   To dig underneath (something), to make a passage for destructive or military purposes; to sap.

   • Martin, for instance, had on one occasion undermined a tree sacred to old gods, then stood in the path of its fall, but forced it to fall elsewhere by making the sign of the Cross.
2. 2

   To weaken or work against

   To weaken or work against; to hinder, sabotage.

   • The war efforts were undermined by the constant bickering between the allies.
   • The penile mishaps (one involving a bristled toothbrush), severings (one involves hungry ducks) and surgeries cited by Ms. Roach are nothing if not memorable, but her book consistently undermines its own discoveries.
3. 3

   To erode the base or foundation of something, e.g. by the action of water.

4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      To regard an object as the sum of the parts that compose it, in object-oriented ontology.

      • We can even go further: when we consider an object in everyday life we do not usually just undermine or overmine it as if it demanded an either/or approach, but rather we run the two processes in tandem: duomining, as Harman labels it.

The neighborhood

• antonymundergird