undermine
/ˌʌn.dɚˈmaɪn/ verb C1- To dig underneath (something), to make a passage for destructive or military purposes; to sap.
- To weaken or work against; to hinder, sabotage. · The war efforts were undermined by the constant bickering between the allies.
- To erode the base or foundation of something, e.g. by the action of water.
- To regard an object as the sum of the parts that compose it, in object-oriented ontology.
He/she/it undermines · Past undermined · Past participle undermined · -ing form undermining
Verb forms
- Base form
- undermine
- He/she/it
- undermines
- Past
- undermined
- Past participle
- undermined
- -ing form
- undermining
From the library
To undermine the ground for fifty feet—to devote three years to a labor which, if successful, would conduct you to a precipice overhanging the sea—to plunge into the waves from the height of fifty, sixty, perhaps a hundred feet, at the risk of being dashed to pieces against the rocks, should you have been fortunate enough to have escaped the fire of the sentinels; and even, supposing all these perils past, then to have to swim for your life a distance of at least three miles ere you could reach the shore—were difficulties so startling and formidable that Dantès had never even dreamed of such a scheme, resigning himself rather to death.
This digital retreat severely undermines the original goal of cultivating a dynamic, interactive workplace culture.
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