undercut
verb/ˌʌndə(ɹ)ˈkʌt/
Etymology From Middle English undercutten, equivalent to under- + cut.
1
To sell (something) at a lower price, or to work for lower wages, than a competitor.
- The fact that, to cover low tariffs on bulk commodities, the railways have to charge very high rates on high-value goods, such as manufactures, has provided road operators with a golden opportunity to undercut the railway.1959 November, J. N. Westwood, “The Railways of Canada”, in Trains Illustrated, page 555:
2
To create an overhang by cutting away material from underneath.
3
To undermine.
- Though Bane’s sing-song voice gives his pronouncements a funny lilt, he doesn’t have any of the Joker’s deranged wit, and Nolan isn’t interested in undercutting his seriousness for the sake of a breezier entertainment.2012 July 18, Scott Tobias, “The Dark Knight Rises”, in AV Club:
4
To strike a heavy blow upward.
5
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Motor racing, Racing, Sports To employ the undercut strategy.
6
To downplay or minimize.
- This was a very generous way of describing the swarm of cables, kit-bashed thaumatic cores, Noogenic foci and para-technological inverters, all surrounded by an astoundingly complex cognitohazardous sigil and multiple ontological anchors. This, simultaneously, simplified the interdisciplinary effort that had swelled in a miniscule amount of time, and undercut the sheer conceptual impact this could leave in all of their respective fields.2025 February 4, Queerious, “Don't Let Them Forget”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 28 Feb 2025: