underpinnings

/ ˈʌndəˌpɪnɪŋz /

plural noun

1. any supporting structure or system

Example Sentences

What the poll shows is at once an advance, but also the gritty underpinnings of prejudice.

From The Daily Beast

Complex underpinnings very slowly melted away into less and less constraining garments.

From The Daily Beast

The changes are not happening yet on the surface, but in the important place, in the underpinnings of society.

From The Daily Beast

The medical literature only recently has begun to examine the medical and psychiatric underpinnings of the practice.

From The Daily Beast

But a reader will never learn about the underpinnings of these friendships.

From The Daily Beast

The gate of the nameless mausoleum had not been opened for many years, and the wind had heaped the dirt against the underpinnings.

From Project Gutenberg

Hewn-stone underpinnings were seldom adopted in those days; the brick-work rests directly upon the solid walls of the cellar.

From Project Gutenberg

Either I should have slowed down or waited until they could put in some re-enforced-concrete underpinnings.

From Project Gutenberg

Between this oddly opposed pair stands on her solid, sensible underpinnings the figure of Candida.

From Project Gutenberg

That ship you talked of is awfully plated up topside, but all her underpinnings are pretty weak.

From Project Gutenberg