Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If an action is underhand or if it is done in an underhand way, it is done secretly and dishonestly. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  …underhand financial deals. □  …a list of the underhanded ways in which their influence operates in the United States. □  She accused the government of being underhand.

2 ADJ [ADJ n] You use underhand or underhanded to describe actions, such as throwing a ball, in which you do not raise your arm above your shoulder. [AM ] □  …an underhanded pitch. ● ADV [ADV after v] Underhand is also an adverb. □  In softball, pitches are tossed underhand. [in BRIT, use underarm ]

under|lay (underlays ) The noun is pronounced /ʌ ndə ^r le I /. The verb is pronounced /ʌ ndə ^r le I /. 1 N‑VAR Underlay is a layer of thick material that you place between a carpet and the floor to protect the carpet and make it feel warmer and softer. [BRIT ]

2Underlay is the past tense of underlie .

under|lie /ʌ ndə ^r la I / (underlies , underlying , underlay , underlain )

1 VERB If something underlies a feeling or situation, it is the cause or basis of it. □ [V n] Try to figure out what feeling underlies your anger.

2 → see also underlying

under|line /ʌ ndə ^r la I n/ (underlines , underlining , underlined )

1 VERB If one thing, for example an action or an event, underlines another, it draws attention to it and emphasizes its importance. □ [V n] The report underlined his concern that standards were at risk. □ [V wh] But the incident underlines how easily things can go wrong. [Also V that]

2 VERB If you underline something such as a word or a sentence, you draw a line underneath it in order to make people notice it or to give it extra importance. □ [V n] Take two coloured pens and underline the positive and negative words.

under|ling /ʌ ndə ^r l I ŋ/ (underlings ) N‑COUNT You refer to someone as an underling when they are inferior in rank or status to someone else and take orders from them. You use this word to show that you do not respect someone. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  …underlings who do the dirty work.

under|ly|ing /ʌ ndə ^r la I I ŋ/

1 ADJ [ADJ n] The underlying features of an object, event, or situation are not obvious, and it may be difficult to discover or reveal them. □  To stop a problem you have to understand its underlying causes. □  I think that the underlying problem is education, unemployment and bad housing.

2 ADJ [ADJ n] You describe something as underlying when it is below the surface of something else. □  …hills with the hard underlying rock poking through the turf.

3 → see also underlie

under|manned /ʌ ndə ^r mæ nd/ ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If an organization is undermanned , it does not have enough employees to function properly. □  In some stores we were undermanned and customer service was suffering.

under|mine ◆◇◇ /ʌ ndə ^r ma I n/ (undermines , undermining , undermined )

1 VERB If you undermine something such as a feeling or a system, you make it less strong or less secure than it was before, often by a gradual process or by repeated efforts. □ [V n] Offering advice on each and every problem will undermine her feeling of being adult. □ [V n] Western intelligence agencies are accused of trying to undermine the government.

2 VERB If you undermine someone or undermine their position or authority, you make their authority or position less secure, often by indirect methods. □ [V n] She undermined him and destroyed his confidence in his own talent. □ [V n] The conversations were designed to undermine her authority.