undermine


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un·der·mine

 (ŭn′dər-mīn′)
tr.v. un·der·mined, un·der·min·ing, un·der·mines
1. To weaken by wearing away a base or foundation: Water has undermined the stone foundations.
2. To weaken, injure, or impair, often by degrees or imperceptibly; sap: Late hours can undermine one's health.
3. To dig a mine or tunnel beneath.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

undermine

(ˌʌndəˈmaɪn)
vb (tr)
1. (Physical Geography) (of the sea, wind, etc) to wear away the bottom or base of (land, cliffs, etc)
2. to weaken gradually or insidiously: their insults undermined her confidence.
3. to tunnel or dig beneath
ˌunderˈminer n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

un•der•mine

(ˌʌn dərˈmaɪn or, esp. for 1,2,4, ˈʌn dərˌmaɪn)

v.t. -mined, -min•ing.
1. to impair, weaken, or destroy (health, morale, etc.) by imperceptible stages.
2. to make an excavation under; dig or tunnel beneath.
3. to weaken or cause to collapse by removing underlying supports.
[1300–50]
un′der•min`er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

undermine


Past participle: undermined
Gerund: undermining

Imperative
undermine
undermine
Present
I undermine
you undermine
he/she/it undermines
we undermine
you undermine
they undermine
Preterite
I undermined
you undermined
he/she/it undermined
we undermined
you undermined
they undermined
Present Continuous
I am undermining
you are undermining
he/she/it is undermining
we are undermining
you are undermining
they are undermining
Present Perfect
I have undermined
you have undermined
he/she/it has undermined
we have undermined
you have undermined
they have undermined
Past Continuous
I was undermining
you were undermining
he/she/it was undermining
we were undermining
you were undermining
they were undermining
Past Perfect
I had undermined
you had undermined
he/she/it had undermined
we had undermined
you had undermined
they had undermined
Future
I will undermine
you will undermine
he/she/it will undermine
we will undermine
you will undermine
they will undermine
Future Perfect
I will have undermined
you will have undermined
he/she/it will have undermined
we will have undermined
you will have undermined
they will have undermined
Future Continuous
I will be undermining
you will be undermining
he/she/it will be undermining
we will be undermining
you will be undermining
they will be undermining
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been undermining
you have been undermining
he/she/it has been undermining
we have been undermining
you have been undermining
they have been undermining
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been undermining
you will have been undermining
he/she/it will have been undermining
we will have been undermining
you will have been undermining
they will have been undermining
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been undermining
you had been undermining
he/she/it had been undermining
we had been undermining
you had been undermining
they had been undermining
Conditional
I would undermine
you would undermine
he/she/it would undermine
we would undermine
you would undermine
they would undermine
Past Conditional
I would have undermined
you would have undermined
he/she/it would have undermined
we would have undermined
you would have undermined
they would have undermined
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.undermine - destroy property or hinder normal operationsundermine - destroy property or hinder normal operations; "The Resistance sabotaged railroad operations during the war"
derail - cause to run off the tracks; "they had planned to derail the trains that carried atomic waste"
disobey - refuse to go along with; refuse to follow; be disobedient; "He disobeyed his supervisor and was fired"
2.undermine - hollow out as if making a cave or opening; "The river was caving the banks"
core out, hollow out, hollow - remove the interior of; "hollow out a tree trunk"
sap - excavate the earth beneath
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

undermine

verb
1. weaken, sabotage, subvert, compromise, disable, debilitate, disempower They are accused of trying to undermine the government.
weaken promote, sustain, strengthen, reinforce, fortify
2. damage, weaken, threaten, hurt, injure, impair, sap, put the kibosh on (informal), throw a spanner in the works of (Brit. informal) This will undermine their chances of success.
damage strengthen, reinforce, fortify, buttress
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

undermine

verb
1. To lessen or deplete the nerve, energy, or strength of:
2. To damage, destroy, or defeat by sabotage:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُضْعِفيُقَوِّض، يَهْدِم
podemlítpodkopat
nedbrydeunderminere
heikentääsabotoida
חתר תחת
aláaknáz
grafa göng undir; grafa undangrafa undan, veikja
paplauti
grautiedragātizskalotparakties apakšā
podmyť
altını kazmak/oymakbaltalamakzayıflatmak

undermine

[ˌʌndəˈmaɪn] VT (fig) → minar, socavar
his health is being undermined by overworkel exceso de trabajo le está minando la salud
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

undermine

[ˌʌndərˈmaɪn] vt [+ authority, government, confidence, morale, efforts] → saper
to undermine sb's position (= weaken authority) → déstabiliser qn
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

undermine

[ˌʌndəˈmaɪn] vt (fig) → minare; (authority) → pregiudicare
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

undermine

(andəˈmain) verb
1. to make (eg a building) insecure by digging away or destroying the base or foundations. The road was being undermined by a stream.
2. to weaken (eg a person's health or authority). Constant hard work had undermined his health.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

undermine

vt. dañar, debilitar.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
References in classic literature ?
There are five particulars in which, under fair pretences, the rich craftily endeavour to undermine the rights of the people, these are their public assemblies, their offices of state, their courts of justice, their military power, and their gymnastic exercises.
I had had confidential agents trickling through the country some time, whose office was to undermine knighthood by imperceptible degrees, and to gnaw a little at this and that and the other superstition, and so prepare the way gradually for a better order of things.
I remember a wise old gentleman who used to say, "When children are doing nothing, they are doing mischief." I will not enlarge this quaint saying to the most beautiful part of the creation in general; but so far I may be allowed, that when the effects of female jealousy do not appear openly in their proper colours of rage and fury, we may suspect that mischievous passion to be at work privately, and attempting to undermine, what it doth not attack above-ground.
The working of all great organisation there is underground - it is easy enough to meet plot by counterplot, to suborn, to deceive, to undermine. But here all the great games of life seem to be played with the cards upon the table.
The Dodger had a vicious propensity, too, of pulling the caps from the heads of small boys and tossing them down areas; while Charley Bates exhibited some very loose notions concerning the rights of property, by pilfering divers apples and onions from the stalls at the kennel sides, and thrusting them into pockets which were so surprisingly capacious, that they seemed to undermine his whole suit of clothes in every direction.
She might, and not improbably would, have suffered death from the stern tribunals of the period, for attempting to undermine the foundations of the Puritan establishment.
I leave every man to decide whether the result of any one of these experiments can be said to countenance a suspicion, that a diffusive mode of choosing representatives of the people tends to elevate traitors and to undermine the public liberty.
Failing in his attempt to undermine the loyalty of the two Dyaks von Horn had chosen the only other way to keep the knowledge of the whereabouts of the chest from Barunda's uncle and Muda Saffir, and now his principal interest in life was to escape the vengeance of the head hunters and return to the long-house before his absence should be detected.
Aldersley is, or is not, a living man; and there will be an end of the hysterical delusions which now threaten to fatally undermine her health.
And being no stranger to the art of war, I gave him a description of cannons, culverins, muskets, carabines, pistols, bullets, powder, swords, bayonets, battles, sieges, retreats, attacks, undermines, countermines, bombardments, sea fights, ships sunk with a thousand men, twenty thousand killed on each side, dying groans, limbs flying in the air, smoke, noise, confusion, trampling to death under horses' feet, flight, pursuit, victory; fields strewed with carcases, left for food to dogs and wolves and birds of prey; plundering, stripping, ravishing, burning, and destroying.
General Shavendra Silva as the new Commander of the Sri Lanka Army saying it would undermine Sri Lanka's reconciliation and accountability efforts.
WASHINGTON, July 30 (KUNA) -- The US on Tuesday extended for a year the national emergency on Lebanon, announced since 2007, because of what it described as practices that deem to undermine sovereignty, government and institutions.