Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "undergird" []

  • To support or strengthen from beneath. (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.

Use "undergird" in a sentence
  • "Many explanations have been suggested for the greater intolerance of more religiously observant people—that they are more likely to see the world in “we/they” or Manichaean terms, for example, or that moral absolutism—a clear distinction between right and wrong—is incompatible with the skeptical outlook that is said to undergird civic tolerance."
  • "This past summer, I had the opportunity to spend time with nearly 60 Teach For America corps members taking part in our Foundation's REALITY Israel Experience, a program that enables corps members to travel to Israel to explore the values that undergird their commitment to public service."
  • "By day, Mr. Mercier the name is a pseudonym is a professor of philosophy in Berlin and has written extensively on the intractable questions that undergird his fiction: Is free will possible?"