Showing results for "underpinning"

• present participle of underpin.

underpinning

American  

[uhn-der-pin-ing] / ˈʌn dərˌpɪn ɪŋ /

noun

• underpinnings
  plural

1. a system of supports beneath a wall or the like.

2. Often underpinnings. a foundation or basis.

   to uncover the emotional underpinnings of an illness.

3. Informal. underpinnings,

   1. underwear, especially women's underwear.

   2. the legs.

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underpinning British  

/ ˈʌndəˌpɪnɪŋ /

noun

1. a structure of masonry, concrete, etc, placed beneath a wall to provide support

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• underpinnings
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of underpinning

First recorded in 1480–90; under + pin + -ing ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

underpinning underpinnings

The message underpinning the new role is: "We can't just hope AI goes away".

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

The basic logic underpinning his thinking is that the more people who own and use bitcoin, the greater the adoption of its network, which can provide a base for assessing its value.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

Two years later, new scientific evidence came to light which challenged one of the key assumptions underpinning the prosecution case.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

Yet, the technology underpinning autonomous warfare risks outpacing the Russian and Ukrainian frameworks for maintaining some degree of human control over weapons.

From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026

For more than eighteen months, from mid-2005 until early 2007, there had been this growing disconnect between the price of subprime mortgage bonds and the value of the loans underpinning them.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Warsh hasn’t given the intellectual underpinnings for his “swerve” away from how Fed chairs over the past two decades have communicated, Tetlow noted.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

Yet there had to have been underpinnings to keep the group producing and its audience coming back for more on record and on stage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

His association with Rand was seldom highlighted during his Fed tenure, but even a casual reading of those essays exposes the Randian underpinnings — and the Randian self-contradictions — of his Fed policies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

He charms the staff with his knowledge of these obscure machines – pointing out the bellows that power a church organ, and the pneumatic underpinnings of a piano roll player.

From BBC ● May 14, 2026

It could have been the greatest moment in the partnership of Lawrence and Oppenheimer; the unveiling of earthshaking experimental findings with solid theoretical underpinnings.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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