Definitions for undermine
ˌʌn dərˈmaɪn or, esp. for 1,2,4 , ˈʌn dərˌmaɪnun·der·mine

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. sabotage, undermine, countermine, counteract, subvert, weaken(verb)

   destroy property or hinder normal operations

   "The Resistance sabotaged railroad operations during the war"

2. cave, undermine(verb)

   hollow out as if making a cave or opening

   "The river was caving the banks"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. undermine(Verb)

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

2. undermine(Verb)

   To weaken or work against; to hinder, sabotage.

   The war efforts were undermined by the constant bickering between the allies.

Webster Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Undermine(verb)

   to excavate the earth beneath, or the part of, especially for the purpose of causing to fall or be overthrown; to form a mine under; to sap; as, to undermine a wall

2. Undermine(verb)

   fig.: To remove the foundation or support of by clandestine means; to ruin in an underhand way; as, to undermine reputation; to undermine the constitution of the state

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Undermine

   un-dėr-mīn′, v.t. to form mines under, in order to destroy: to destroy secretly the foundation or support of anything.—n. Undermī′ner, one who undermines, a secret enemy.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. undermine

   To dig an excavation under any fort, house, or other building, so as to cause it to fall down or to blow it up with powder.

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'undermine' in Verbs Frequency: #716

How to pronounce undermine?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say undermine in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of undermine in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of undermine in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of undermine in a Sentence

1. Mark McBride:

   People have had concerns about the justice system at least since the O.J. Simpson case in terms of evidence mishandling, biased detectives and lab technicians who are not superheroes, i don't think these (shows) undermine the system. I think the criminal justice system wants to be held accountable.

2. President Vladimir Putin:

   Their goal is obvious: to undermine Russia's power and moral authority ... to divide peoples and set them against each other and use historical speculation in their geopolitical games.

3. Richard Blumenthal:

   He would be screaming to the world,' I am guilty !' And he would so undermine the credibility of his office that it would be a disaster for the nation, it would very possibly be an obstruction of justice because he would be misusing that power to protect himself as a target of that investigation.

4. Alex Azar:

   We have product that is going through QC right now -- quality control -- for sterility, identity check -- that -- we have tens and tens of millions of product. We always will. But batches fail. Sterility fails. ... And then you don't have a product for that second dose, and frankly, talking about that or encouraging that can really undermine a critical public health need, which is that people come back for their second vaccine.

5. Jeremy Konyndyk:

   Health worker infections are a huge blow, because beyond adding to case counts, they degrade the health system's capacity to fight the outbreak and they undermine the health system's work on a range of other health risks as well.

Images & Illustrations of undermine

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