Definition of "undercut" []

• To diminish or destroy the province or effectiveness of; undermine: "This celebration of opulence and wealth and power undercuts the character of the Statue of Liberty” ( Jesse Jackson). "The partnership between the United States and Western Europe is undercut by diverging economic interests” ( Scott Sullivan). (verb-transitive)
• To sell at a lower price than or to work for lower wages or fees than (a competitor). (verb-transitive)
• To make a cut under or below. (verb-transitive)
• To create an overhang by cutting material away from, as in carving. (verb-transitive)
• Sports To impart backspin to (a ball) by striking downward as well as forward, as in golf and baseball. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Hezbollah and other opposition parties have raised objections, saying the terms undercut Lebanese sovereignty."
• "This had the effect of staving off the immediate threat, but these actions in the long term undercut support for Reconstruction precisely because they seemed dangerous expansions of executive power."
• "This done, they begin what is called the "undercut" -- the cut on that, side toward which the tree is meant to fall; and when they have made a little progress, they, by an ingenious and simple contrivance, fix upon the proper direction of the cut, so as to make the tree fall accurately where they want it."