underpinning

English

Verb

underpinning

1. present participle and gerund of underpin

Noun

underpinning (plural underpinnings)

1. A support or foundation, especially as a structure of masonry that supports a wall.

   This house's underpinning is not up to standard.

   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 319:

     Released were two singles that went nowhere fast; the third, "Early Morning Love" (#68, 1974), was a teasing male fantasy with a folkie feel and countrified pedal-steel guitar underpinnings.

2. (figurative) A basis for something.

   I would like to know more about the underpinning of this political theory.

3. (figurative, humorous) The lower body or legs.
   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ and if you don't look out there's likely to be some nice, lively dog taking an interest in your underpinning.”

Related terms

• underlying

 

Translations

a support or foundation of a structure

• French: soubassement (fr) m