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.
Synonyms
Examples of undergird in a Sentence
London Business School, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
In this case, the worry that the Soviet Union was outstripping the United States was valuable, catalyzing beneficial investments that undergirded a subsequent half century of American technological superiority.
—Jude Blanchette, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
The discoveries in these regions have undergirded a nascent area of scientific inquiry.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 31 Dec. 2024
The same impulse undergirds Georgians’ repeatedly expressed preference for liberal democracy, which is valued not only on its own terms but also as a bulwark against Russian-style tyranny.
—Christian Caryl, Foreign Affairs, 26 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for undergird 
Dictionary Entries Near undergird
Cite this Entry
“Undergird.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/undergird. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
undergird
verb
Share