underpin

[ uhn-der-pin ]

verb (used with object)

, un·der·pinned, un·der·pin·ning.

1. to prop up or support from below; strengthen, as by reinforcing a foundation.
2. to replace or strengthen the foundation of (a building or the like).
3. to furnish a foundation for; corroborate:

   The author's conclusions are underpinned by references to experimental findings.

underpin

/ ˌʌndəˈpɪn /

verb

1. to support from beneath, esp by a prop, while avoiding damaging or weakening the superstructure

   to underpin a wall

2. to give corroboration, strength, or support to

Word History and Origins

Origin of underpin¹

First recorded in 1515–25; under- + pin

Example Sentences

This year’s program focuses on the road ahead for the technology that underpins our lives and businesses, including AI, biomedicine, cloud, and cybersecurity.

From MIT Technology Review

Changes in the technology underpinning the system have allowed Google to double the warning time it is now providing, giving people detailed alerts up to 48 hours before flooding occurs.

From Fortune

He was also a key pioneer of the business model that helps underpin “commission-free” stock brokerage for everyday traders.

From Quartz

The idea underpinning the computer scientists’ proposal is that consumers’ digital data is a form of unpaid labor.

From Quartz

Business publications have the access, the context, and the duty to tease out the financial forces underpinning all of these problems.

From Quartz

It is also their pattern to ignore the political problems that underpin the bad military performances of our “good guys.”

From The Daily Beast

And dangerous because the Treasury securities that comprise that credit underpin much of the operations of the American economy.

From The Daily Beast

Serious settlements had taken place, and rendered it necessary to underpin the walls.

From Project Gutenberg

They found the hole in which Mrs. Higgs had stepped, and the pole which had been used to underpin the middle boards.

From Project Gutenberg

We underpin our houses with granite; what 30 of our habits and our lives?

From Project Gutenberg

I resumed: Further we must underpin the runners and work up the earth herring-wise.

From Project Gutenberg

There were laws upon laws, endeavours to underpin the framework of a decaying society.

From Project Gutenberg