Dictionary

undermine en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˌʌn.dɚˈmaɪn/ (General-American)
• /ˌʌn.dəˈmaɪn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *-tér Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Indo-European *h₂én Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi ? Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- English mine English undermine From under- + mine.

Meanings

1. To dig underneath (something), to make a passage for destructive or military purposes; to sap.
   • Martin, for instance, had on one occasion undermined a tree sacred to old gods, then stood in the path of its fall, but forced it to fall elsewhere by making the sign of the Cross. 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 312:
2. (figuratively) To weaken or work against; to hinder, sabotage.
   • The penile mishaps (one involving a bristled toothbrush), severings (one involves hungry ducks) and surgeries cited by Ms. Roach are nothing if not memorable, but her book consistently undermines its own discoveries. 2008 April 7, Janet Maslin, “A Sex Researcher Walks Into a Lab, and Then Things Start to Get Comical”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022:
   • The growing use of social media to spread anger and dissent in the Arab world has been hailed by western governments as one of the chief justifications for a completely unfettered internet. The US is reportedly funding the secret rollout of technology in Iran in an effort to undermine internet censors in the country. 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 May 2025:
   • The 'partygate' controversy has played a major part in undermining the credibility of Boris Johnson and his Government and has led to calls from senior MPs for him to resign. 2022 January 26, “Network News: DfT awaits verdict on COVID 'partygate' scandal”, in RAIL, number 949, page 6:
   • The war efforts were undermined by the constant bickering between the allies.
   • When Morrison mulls the pluses and minuses associated with rebuking Kelly for undermining the government’s public health messaging, the prime minister faces a genuine substantive dilemma, and that goes to the risks of amplification. 2021 February 2, Katharine Murphy, “Scott Morrison must heed the lesson of Donald Trump and slap down Craig Kelly”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 27 Apr 2021:
3. To erode the base or foundation of something, e.g. by the action of water.
   • Services between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley via Falkirk High are currently suspended, following a 30-metre breach of the Union Canal that occurred on August 12 after torrential rain and thunderstorms. The thousands of gallons of water that cascaded onto the railway line below washed away track, ballast and overhead line equipment, and undermined embankments along a 300-metre section of Scotland's busiest rail link. 2020 August 26, “Network News: Major flood damage severs key Edinburgh-Glasgow rail artery”, in Rail, page 21:
   • Dungeness: The branch to the nuclear power station at Dungeness has been temporarily out of use because badgers have undermined the trackbed. 2026 July 22, Howard Johnston, “Regional News: Southern”, in RAIL, number 1066, page 21:
4. To regard an object as the sum of the parts that compose it, in object-oriented ontology.
   • We can even go further: when we consider an object in everyday life we do not usually just undermine or overmine it as if it demanded an either/or approach, but rather we run the two processes in tandem: duomining, as Harman labels it. 2022, Nicholas Gayle, Conrad and the Being of the World, page 25:

Forms

Antonyms

undergird

Coordinates

overmine

Deriveds

underminable · underminer

Synonyms

undercut · corrode

Translations (84)

hil áb-ab (hinder, sabotage) · mi whakararuraru (hinder, sabotage) · eo subfosi (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · nb undergrave (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · ru подорва́ть (hinder, sabotage) · fa تضعیف کردن (hinder, sabotage) · la surruō (hinder, sabotage) · sh potkopavati (hinder, sabotage) · pt minar (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · uk посла́блювати (hinder, sabotage) · la surruō (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · sh поткопавати (hinder, sabotage) · de schwächen (hinder, sabotage) · pt prejudicar (hinder, sabotage) · sv underminera (hinder, sabotage) · de unterminieren (hinder, sabotage) · ar قّوض (hinder, sabotage) · es socavar (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · pt sabotar (hinder, sabotage) · pt solapar (hinder, sabotage) · es armar tranquilla (hinder, sabotage) · it minare (hinder, sabotage) · mi whakahāwea (hinder, sabotage) · fi kaivaa maata alta (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · sh поткопати (hinder, sabotage) · sv undergräva (hinder, sabotage) · es socavar (hinder, sabotage) · el υποσκάπτω (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · hu aláaknáz (hinder, sabotage) · ca soscavar (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · mi whakararu (hinder, sabotage) · ar أضعف (hinder, sabotage) · ru подрыва́ть (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · de untergraben (hinder, sabotage) · nb underminere (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · ru подка́пывать (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · ca minar (hinder, sabotage) · cs podkopávat (hinder, sabotage) · ca soscavar (hinder, sabotage) · it minacciare (hinder, sabotage) · ru подрыва́ть (hinder, sabotage) · he חתר תחת (hinder, sabotage) · de untergraben (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · fr saper (hinder, sabotage) · cs podkopávat (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · uk підко́пувати (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · ru подры́ть (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · ro săpa (hinder, sabotage) · da undergrave (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · ar ضعّف (hinder, sabotage) · hu aláaknáz (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · uk перешкоджа́ти (hinder, sabotage) · de beschädigen (hinder, sabotage) · it pregiudicare (hinder, sabotage) · es desvirtuar (hinder, sabotage) · bg подкопавам (hinder, sabotage) · bg подкопавам (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · el υπονομεύω (hinder, sabotage) · tr baltalamak (hinder, sabotage) · nl ondermijnen (hinder, sabotage) · sh potkopati (hinder, sabotage) · ro submina (hinder, sabotage) · fi heikentää (hinder, sabotage) · fi sabotoida (hinder, sabotage) · ru подкопа́ть (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · fi kaivaa alle (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · ro surpa (hinder, sabotage) · nl ondergraven (hinder, sabotage) · nb underminere (hinder, sabotage) · enm underdelven (hinder, sabotage) · uk підрива́ти (hinder, sabotage) · nb undergrave (hinder, sabotage) · da underminere (hinder, sabotage) · fr saper (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · pt solapar (to dig, tunnel, hollow out as if making a cave or opening) · da undergrave (hinder, sabotage) · ota بالطهلامق (hinder, sabotage) · hu aláás (hinder, sabotage) · cy tanseilio (hinder, sabotage) · de unterlaufen (hinder, sabotage) · it ostacolare (hinder, sabotage) · eo subfosi (hinder, sabotage) · it compromettere (hinder, sabotage) · nl ontwrichten (hinder, sabotage)