underpin
UK/ˌʌn.dəˈpɪn//ˌʌn.dɚˈpɪn/
underpin verb: to support from below with props or masonry.
Verb
underpin (third-person singular simple present underpins, present participle underpinning, simple past and past participle underpinned)
- To support from below with props or masonry.
- You should underpin the mine roof to prevent further collapse.
- To give support to; to form a basis of; to corroborate.
- Public confidence in politicians must underpin our democracy.
- Since Rupert Murdoch famously bet the farm on Premier League football to rescue Sky TV in 1991, it has been the catnip that has underpinned subscriber loyalty and, even in a far more complicated media landscape, is seen as so vital as to be worth almost any price.2016 October 24, Owen Gibson, “Is the unthinkable happening – are people finally switching the football off?”, in The Guardian, London
- Synonyms:
- underlie
underpin meaning in Urdu
underpin in Urdu
- سہارا دینا, تائید کرنا, تقویت دینا, ٹیک لگانا
Examples of underpin in a sentence
- The relationship between these two parts of me is underpinned by homophobic and acephobic assumptions.
- It answers this question by unpacking the epistemic regimes that underpin the move to resilience.
- It underpins the instruction to ‘check your privilege’.
Synonyms of underpin
Forms of underpin
| third-person singular present | underpins |
|---|---|
| present participle | underpinning |
| past participle | underpinned |
| past | underpinned |
Origin of underpin
From under- + pin.
Words formed from underpin
Questions about underpin
- What does underpin mean?
- Underpin means to support from below with props or masonry.
- What is underpin in Urdu?
- Underpin in Urdu is سہارا دینا, تائید کرنا, تقویت دینا. See Underpin meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is underpin?
- Underpin is a verb.
- How do you pronounce underpin?
- Underpin is pronounced /ˌʌn.dəˈpɪn/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of underpin?
- The past tense of underpin is underpinned.
Words near underpin in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: underpin (page history and authors); underpin (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-underpin.ogg, en-au-underpin.ogg.
Cite this entry: “underpin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/underpin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.