undergird
verb
Acts 27:17 (Revised Standard Version)Susan Q. Stranahan
Did you know?
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.
Examples of undergird in a Sentence
Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 13 June 2025
In his statement on X, Hegseth repeated the unfounded claim of an invasion by immigrants facilitated by criminal organizations, a once-fringe theory that now undergirds the administration’s immigration crackdown.
—Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 10 June 2025
The broader fashion industry is paying attention and the implications that continuing raids may have on the vulnerable workforce that undergirds what remains of domestic apparel manufacturing.
—Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 10 June 2025
In her capacity as narrator, Austen not only unleashes some of the most passionate, if sarcastically heightened, exegeses in praise of the novel ever to be tucked delicately into the pages of one but also takes aim at the kind of casual sexism that undergirds condescension toward the form.
—Adelle Waldman, New Yorker, 31 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for undergird
Cite this Entry
“Undergird.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/undergird. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.
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undergird
verb
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