underpin
to prop up or support from below; strengthen, as by reinforcing a foundation.
to replace or strengthen the foundation of (a building or the like).
to furnish a foundation for; corroborate: The author's conclusions are underpinned by references to experimental findings.
Origin of underpin
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use underpin in a sentence
He has underpinned his future program by winning from NASA a 20-year lease on the legendary launch pad 39A at Cape Canaveral.
Tycoons in Space: One in Orbit and One Still Grounded | Clive Irving | October 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe problem here is that this exchange is underpinned by some fundamental misunderstandings.
The 1990s stock market bubble had just burst along with the collapse of telecom spending that had underpinned it.
After all, the rigid dogmas that once underpinned the conflict have long since been binned.
Such instruments can be put in place now but must be underpinned and reinforced by a global agreement on climate change.
Now Is the Best Chance for a Climate Deal | Tony Blair, Nicholas Stern | September 22, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
A week later, he got a jar as he stood with Charnock beside a part of the track they had laboriously underpinned.
The Girl From Keller's | Harold Bindloss"The freight's making good time and when she's gone I must go up the track to the piece the boys underpinned," he said.
Northwest! | Harold BindlossThe foundation of the south side of the Choir and the south-eastern Transept have been underpinned and thoroughly repaired.
Ely Cathedral | AnonymousDuring the latter part of the time its aisle walls were underpinned.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Rochester | G. H. PalmerReligious laws made for their own government, which underpinned their social life, were rarely meddled with.
The Jews of Barnow | Karl Emil Franzos
British Dictionary definitions for underpin
/ (ˌʌndəˈpɪn) /
to support from beneath, esp by a prop, while avoiding damaging or weakening the superstructure: to underpin a wall
to give corroboration, strength, or support to
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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