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Glite Dictionary
💸 To sell cheaper 🪚 To cut underneath 🪓 To notch a tree 🎾 To give backspin ✂️ A lower cut 🌳 A tree notch ⛏️ Removed material 💇 A short hairstyle 🥩 A tender meat 🏓 A spin shot
to undercut

to undercut

1 6.8
Cut away the lower part of something to make an overhang or shape
  • verb
  • /ˈʌndərˌkʌt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : rebajar por debajo
  • As it continues, this process eventually undercuts the entire faulted region, resulting in the formation of the jagged step edge shown in Figure 4.

Examples

  • In the quarry, workers carefully undercut the rock to create a stable ledge for the next phase of their project.

  • The brief text label explained their origins in nineteenth-century Dutch attempts to undercut Indonesian batik production.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The paths quickly erode and undercut the banks; eventually, they become so steep that even the hippos can no longer use them.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The carpenter decided to undercut the beam to create an overhang that would protect the entrance from rain.

  • To strengthen the structure, the builders undercut the base of the wall, ensuring it would withstand the weight above.

Antonyms

to build up
207 3.0

Increase slowly over time

to put on
34 1.7

To add something to a building to make it larger

How Much

to gouge
20 7.2
to undercut
  • Specialized
1 6.8
to cut away
5 3.4
to trim
95 2.6

Surface Forms

undercut infinitive
undercutting present participle
undercuts third person singular
undercut past
undercut past participle

Morphology

undercut = cut (transparent) = under + cut

The meaning follows directly from the combination 'under' + 'cut' (to cut from beneath), which a B1 learner can infer.

Etymology

Undercut comes from the simple parts under 'below' and cut 'to cut'. It originally meant to cut from underneath so you remove material and make an overhang. So to undercut in carpentry or carving is to cut away the underside of something.