undergird
Americanverb (used with object)
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to strengthen; secure, as by passing a rope or chain under and around.
to undergird a top-heavy load.
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to give fundamental support; provide with a sound or secure basis.
ethics undergirded by faith.
verb
Etymology
Origin of undergird
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They also undergird yields on the corporate bonds that companies use for funding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Insider-trading rules backed by criminal penalties undergird confident stock trading.
From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026
We try and understand the meaning systems that undergird whatever group we’re studying.
From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2025
Aquilino said the AI can undergird U.S. military “decision superiority:” dominance in the tactical decision-making process to maintain advantages over potential enemies.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
Multiplied to infinity, choices no longer undergird values, but options that are equally mediocre.
From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Mihai Nadin
Favorable public opinion has long undergirded close U.S. ties with its traditional allies in Western Europe, East Asia and Canada.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Rosen: Our journey into Dean’s interior world showed that those feats were undergirded by his need to face his fears through a really elaborate process, with all his planning and then doing it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
Yet complacency, undergirded by the remarkable strength of the stock market, is precisely what U.S. leaders are showing.
From Barron's ● Mar. 7, 2026
Day center activities are undergirded with building relationships because, as Towey explains, “relationship is what drives outcomes and impact.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 26, 2024
I devoured the books because they were the rays of light peeking out from the doorframe, and perhaps past that door there was another world, one beyond the gripping fear that undergirded the Dream.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Yet the factors undergirding the market’s comeback are both relatively straightforward and well-grounded in fundamentals, according to Société Générale strategist Manish Kabra.
From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026
That’s the principle undergirding the AI industry’s vast expenditures on data centers and high-performance chips.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
The premise undergirding the campaign was that lazy, childish men should be the leaders of society, not just despite but because they won't do the work to earn it.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2024
The web-based tool, and the methods undergirding its creation, appears in the journal Science Advances.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 7, 2024
The fireplace, the beams undergirding the loft, the tools dangling off nails on the walls.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
