undergird
verb
Acts 27:17 (Revised Standard Version)Susan Q. Stranahan
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When undergird was a new word in the 16th century, it was ships that were undergirded—that is, made secure below—and the undergirding was done by passing a rope or chain underneath. That literal sense has long since fallen out of use, but in the 19th century undergird picked up the figurative “strengthen” or “support” meaning that we still use. Centuries before anything was undergirded, however, people and things could be girded—that is, encircled or bound with a flexible band, such as a belt. Girding today is more often about preparing oneself to fight or to do something difficult, as in “girding themselves for an ideological battle.” About as old as gird is the word’s close relation, girdle, which originally referred to an article of clothing that circles the body usually at the waist; the girdles of today address the same anatomical territory but with the squeezy aim of making the waist look thinner. Gird also gives us girder, a noun referring to a horizontal piece supporting a structure.
Synonyms
Examples of undergird in a Sentence
Philip Bump, Washington Post, 11 July 2024
The intrigue: The Defense Department's green interest is also undergirded by more direct experiences: soldiers in senior roles who 10-20 years ago guarded fuel convoys in Iraq and Afghanistan; officers at bases damaged by stronger storms or inundated by regular floods from sea-level rise.
—Alan Neuhauser, Axios, 17 Oct. 2024
The consumer welfare principle undergirds the judge’s holding in Epic v. Apple – which stressed the welfare-beneficial aspects of Apple’s conduct.
—Alden Abbott, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024
The United States and the Soviet Union were able to find a sustainable détente undergirded by more clearly articulated arms control agreements and spheres of influence that each side could live with.
—Dmitri Alperovitch, Foreign Affairs, 15 May 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Undergird.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/undergird. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
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undergird
verb
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