underscore meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

underscore

noun

UK /ˈʌn.dəˌskɔː(ɹ)/ · US /ˈʌn.dɚˌskoɹ/

Etymology From under- + score.

A line drawn or printed beneath text; the character _.

He walks into the house and picks up a pen. The thought he has is a brilliant idea. He must write it down. Only two words need to be written. The underscore adds importance. / BOUNTY HUNTER2007, Richard D. Ondo, “Used Cars in West Virginia”, in A Third Cell in America: A Novel, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 15:

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A piece of background music.

verb

UK /ˌʌn.dəˈskɔː(ɹ)/ · US /ˌʌn.dɚˈskɔɹ/

Etymology From under- + score.

To underline; to mark a line beneath text.

By convention, Rubyists usually underscore their method names.2011, Matt Aimonetti, MacRuby: The Definitive Guide: Ruby and Cocoa on OS X, page 14:

To emphasize or draw attention to.

I wish to underscore the importance of proper formatting.
The tale thus underscores in expressive form the semiparadoxical fact that traders can lie by telling the truth.1986, Richard Bauman, Story, Performance, and Event: Contextual Studies of Oral Narrative:

2 more examples

Not trusting filmgoers to catch the drift, Ms. Coppola underscores the women’s attempts to gussy up with snippets of arch dialogue.2017 June 30, Ruth La Ferla, “In ‘The Beguiled,’ Pretty Confections Whipped Up to Seduce”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Oct 2018:
Biden on Monday unveiled new measures to tackle antisemitism on college campuses and senior officials underscored the need to combat anti-Jewish hate.2023 October 31, Stephen Collinson, “A new wave of antisemitism threatens to rock an already unstable world”, in CNN, archived from the original on 12 Aug 2024:

Derived terms: underscorer
Related terms: underbar, undertie, ampersand, asterisk and asterism, at sign, backslash, bullet, dagger, degree symbol, number sign, prime, tilde, vertical bar, pipe