undergird

American  

[uhn-der-gurd] / ˌʌn dərˈgɜrd /

verb (used with object)

undergirded, undergirt, undergirding

1. to strengthen; secure, as by passing a rope or chain under and around.

   to undergird a top-heavy load.

2. to give fundamental support; provide with a sound or secure basis.

   ethics undergirded by faith.

---

undergird British  

/ ˌʌndəˈɡɜːd /

verb

1. (tr) to strengthen or reinforce by passing a rope, cable, or chain around the underside of (an object, load, etc)

---

Etymology

Origin of undergird

First recorded in 1520–30; under- + gird ¹

Example Sentences

Precisely who could vote and, as importantly, who could not, undergirds this entire study.

From The Wall Street Journal

He spoke of his religiosity — his grandfather and great-grandfather were Baptist preachers — and talked at length about the optimism, a political rarity these days, that undergirds his vision for the country.

From Los Angeles Times

Over the last generation, several assumptions undergirded international relations and commerce.

From The Wall Street Journal

There are no grand speeches about diversity undergirded by uplifting music.

From Los Angeles Times

Yet all are undergirded by peoples that had a pre-existing sense of their own distinctiveness, their own nationhood.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bolster
• hold
• reinforce
• uphold