underpinning

CEFRC1

/ˈʌndəˌrpɪnɪŋ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

Examples

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Deep Dive

Extra meanings

A support or foundation, especially as a structure of masonry that supports a wall.
The lower body or legs.

Extra meaning

In context

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The word in print, with each source given in full.

Released were two singles that went nowhere fast; the third, "Early Morning Love" (#68, 1974), was a teasing male fantasy with a folkie feel and countrified pedal-steel guitar underpinnings.
1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 319
Other eras have had their epicureans or hedonists, of course, who lived and sometimes died for the ideal of simplicity or pleasure in an epic kind of way. But today’s gazillion-strong influencer community has zero intellectual underpinning to it, which is why it’s so often the unwitting butt of its own joke.
2025 April 3, Marina Hyde, “It’s With Love, Meghan – not just a TV show but a landmark piece of art. And not in a good way”, in The Guardian
Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ and if you don't look out there's likely to be some nice, lively dog taking an interest in your underpinning.”
1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

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