underprop

American  

[uhn-der-prop] / ˌʌn dərˈprɒp /

verb (used with object)

underpropped, underpropping

1. to prop underneath; support; uphold.

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underprop British  

/ ˌʌndəˈprɒp /

verb

1. (tr) to prop up from beneath

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Other Word Forms

• underpropper noun

Etymology

Origin of underprop

First recorded in 1505–15; under- + prop ¹

Example Sentences

An acquaintance of Lowell’s bemoaned the habit Lowell had of “jumping at some general idea or theorem,” after which he “selects and bends facts to underprop that generalization.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 22, 2025

Cavendish goes on to observe that Sir Walter was in wonderful declination, yet laboured to underprop himself by my Lord Treasurer and his friends.

From Sir Walter Ralegh A Biography by Stebbing, W. (William)

For those He loves that underprop With daily virtues Heaven’s top, And bear the falling sky with ease, Unfrowning caryatides.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 14 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis

For this self-confidence, which might to a careless observer seem to underprop Peter’s courage, was to the eye of the Lord undermining it.

From The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St John, Vol. II by Dods, Marcus

And so the food is taken to underprop The tottering joints, and by its interfusion To re-create their powers, and there stop up The longing, open-mouthed through limbs and veins, For eating.

From On the Nature of Things by Leonard, William Ellery

Related Words

• brace