underscore

[verb uhn-der-skawr, -skohr, uhn-der-skawr, -skohr; noun uhn-der-skawr, -skohr]

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verb (used with object), un·der·scored, un·der·scor·ing.

to mark with a line or lines underneath; underline, as for emphasis.

to stress; emphasize: The recent tragedy underscores the danger of disregarding safety rules.

noun

a line drawn beneath something written or printed.

music for a film soundtrack; background for a film or stage production.

Origin of underscore

First recorded in 1765–75; under- + score

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for underscores

highlight, stress, accentuate, mark, indicate, caption, accent, feature, italicize

Examples from the Web for underscores

Contemporary Examples of underscores

But that only underscores the injustice of the sentence here.
House Arrest for Marital Rape, Are you Kidding?!
Sally Kohn
May 21, 2014
Tocqueville underscores: “The few opulent citizens of a democracy constitute no exception to this rule.”
What’s At Stake In The Tocqueville/Piketty Debate
James Poulos
April 27, 2014
The 2010 cholera outbreak from sewage in a United Nations camp in Mirebalais underscores the need for improved sanitation.
The Aid Industry Failed Haiti After Its 2010 Quake
Elise Jordan
February 3, 2014
But it also underscores the pathway to victory for Democrats: painting your opponent as extreme.
How Virginia Democrats Are Winning on Gun Safety
Eleanor Clift
October 30, 2013
This underscores the key difference between Democrats in 1989 and Republicans in 2013.
The Bill Clinton and DLC Model For Reinventing the Republican Party
Will Marshall
March 14, 2013

Historical Examples of underscores

Italicized text is represented in the etext with underscores thusly.
Latter-Day Pamphlets
Thomas Carlyle
Sole in the violent welter of those sheets it had no underscores nor any exclamations.
This Freedom
A. S. M. Hutchinson
This latter theme, with the motive of Fate, underscores the earlier portions of the dialogue between Golaud and Mélisande.
Debussy's Pellas et Mlisande
Lawrence Gilman
The sad situation of the smaller and much less industrialized Monocacy in the same summer underscores the point.
The Nation's River
United States Department of the Interior
In edition 11, underscores are used to denote words and phrases italicized for emphasis.
This Side of Paradise
F. Scott Fitzgerald

British Dictionary definitions for underscores

underscore

verb (ˌʌndəˈskɔː) (tr)

to draw or score a line or mark under

to stress or reinforce

noun (ˈʌndəˌskɔː)

a line drawn under written matter

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

Word Origin and History for underscores

underscore

1771, "to draw a line under," from under + score (v.). The figurative sense of "to emphasize" is attested from 1891. Noun meaning "a line drawn below (something)" is recorded from 1901.