underminingn.
1. † b. An excavation or mine. Obsolete. rare.
a. The action of digging under, excavating, eroding, etc. Also in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun] > action > secretly > not secretly
underminingc1380
society > occupation and work > industry > earth-moving, etc. > [noun] > digging or excavating > digging under
underminingc1380
underdelvingc1440
suffossion1623
undercutting1877
society > armed hostility > attack > action or state of siege or blockade > [noun] > mine(s) > construction of
miningc1330
sap1591
undermining1598
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > erosion or weathering > [noun]
deterration1686
undermining1693
erosion1774
corrosion1781
degradation1799
denudation1811
corrasion1875
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > wasting disease > [noun]
wasting1398
pininga1450
consumation1551
waste1570
marasmus1574
colliquation1601
marasme1612
decrement1646
wearing1654
unnourishment1662
decline1783
undermining1897
abiotrophy1902
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. I. 277 Þis housebondis hous is his bodi, þat his soule is kept ynne; and undirmynyng of þis hous mai be don on two maneres.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 511/1 Vnder myndynge (P. vndermynynge), idem quod vnderdeluynge, supra.
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres v. 124 Fortes are wonne..by battery,..by vndermining, and such like.
1629 W. Prynne Church of Englands Old Antithesis 78 By the vndermining of which alone, the whole superstruction..[is] vtterly subuerted.
1679 C. Ness Distinct Disc. Antichrist 37 Their worshipping of saints [is]..no better then real underminings of the sacred foundation.
1693 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. viii. 35 The Banks..jagged and torn by..the silent underminings of Waves.
1726 tr. J. Cavalier Mem. Wars Cevennes iv. 342 They came by underminding as far as the brink of the Ditch.
1845 J. Phillips & C. G. B. Daubeny Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. VI. 705/1 The most characteristic effect of a cascade, is that ceaseless undermining of its base and sides.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 765 There are ulcers with but slight under~mining of their edges.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > excavation
pot1431
undermine1524
grave1526
digginga1552
undermining1572
groin1587
underbeiting1670
dene-hole1768
1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes i. xvi. 73 These [spirits] wander vp and down in caues and vnderminings.
2. The action of insidiously plotting, assailing, subverting, etc.; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > planning > plotting > [noun]
compassinga1300
contrivingc1330
undermining1433
imagininga1449
engininga1450
practising?1545
machinationc1550
packing1587
plotting1593
contrival1602
managing1607
tamperinga1627
practicking1640
texturea1641
contrivance1647
briguing1657
intrigue1668
intriguing1801
policizing1809
scheming1813
intriguery1815
schemery1822
plottery1823
shenanigan1855
game playing1916
shenaniganning1924
wheeler-dealing1968
wheeling and dealing1969
wheeling-dealing1973
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun] > action > secretly
mining1645
undermining1904
sabotage1910
sabotaging1923
white-anting1930
monkeywrenching1983
1433 J. Lydgate St. Fremund 559 By vndirmynyng, this was his menyng; Affter Fremund he to be crownyd kyng.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 285 Undermyndyng, subornation.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (lii. 5) He had..betrayed the giltlesse Preestes by treason and undermyning.
1600 T. Nashe Summers Last Will sig. F3v Familiaritie and conference, That were the sinewes of societies, Are now for vnderminings onely vsde.
1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety ii. 25 The frauds and underminings, the busie scramblings for little parcels of Earth.
1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Moralists ii. iii. 85 Supplanting and Undermining may be fair War elsewhere: But in Philosophical Disputes, 'tis not allowable to work underground.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxiv. 72 We can't bear the plotting and undermining that takes place.
1904 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 17 Sept. 638 An undermining of strength that lessens resisting power.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
underminingadj.
1.
a. That excavates or erodes beneath a surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [adjective] > burrowing or excavating (of mole)
undermining1617
holking1850
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > erosion or weathering > [adjective] > water or wave erosion
undermining1617
retrograding1629
rodent1874
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 160 Ireland hath neither singing Nightingall,..nor vndermining Moule.
1664 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania: 2nd Pt. vi. 219 Those great Hills..would have been worn away..and..their high Tops would have been levell'd by the undermining Streams.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. viii. 57 The glacier, thus exposed to a saline water base..and to an undermining wave action,..is of course speedily detached.
1882 E. A. Floyer Unexplored Baluchistan 121 It has now probably been carried away piecemeal, for it was then perilously near the undermining river.
b. In figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [adjective] > harmful or injurious > by gradual or secret means > not secretly
undermining1661
1661 A. Cowley Vision Cromwell 23 No Guards can oppose assaulting Eares, Or undermining Tears.
a1665 J. Goodwin Πλήρωμα τὸ Πνευματικόv (1670) xiv. 412 The Gospel..hath cast down..many a strong hold..; it is of an undermining nature.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 124. ¶7 There are others who are Moles through Envy... I have caught two or three of these dark undermining Vermin.
1858 J. Martineau Stud. Christianity 271 Huge piles of curious learning,..which..may detain men from search after the living rock, or notice of the undermining flood.
2. Insidiously subversive or destructive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [adjective] > harmful or injurious > by gradual or secret means
mining1560
undermining1583
cankerous1599
pioning1609
cancerous1655
sapping1819
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. Riv v Vndermining easinge droppers..haue wroughte this estraungment betwene vs.
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) iv. 1317 Honours now are purchasèd by stealth Of vndermining bribes.
1679 in Roxburghe Ballads (1883) IV. 552 The Malice, and the restless Hate, Of Under~mining Foes.
1709 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels IV. 35 Undermining Arts of Disputers and Deceivers.
1849 R. T. Claridge Cold-water Cure 173 There are many sufferers from this under~mining malady.
1860 ‘G. Eliot’ Mill on Floss II. v. ii. 234 Instead o' whispering in corners, in that plotting, underminding way.
Derivatives
underˈminingly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [adverb] > with harmful or injurious tendency
hurtfully1552
injuriously1561
undermininglyc1590
disserviceablya1670
marringly1831
detrimentally1879
c1590 Lady Bacon in J. Spedding Bacon's Lett. (1862) III. v. 113 He commonly opened underminingly all letters sent to you from counsel or friends.
1601 J. Deacon & J. Walker Dialogicall Disc. Spirits & Diuels To Rdr. 8 Which these men..vnderminingly haue publisht in print, without any..authenticall priuiledge.
1832 F. Burney Mem. Dr. Burney III. 176 The accumulation of the whole had, slowly and underminingly, brought him into the state that has been described.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.c1380adj.1583