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Undermine vs Founder - What's the difference?

undermine | founder |

As verbs the difference between undermine and founder

is that undermine is to dig underneath (something), to make a passage or for destructive or military purposes; to sap while founder is of a ship, to fill with water and sink.

As a noun founder is

one who founds, establishes, and erects; one who lays a foundation; an author; one from whom something originates; one who endows or founder can be the iron worker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.

undermine

English

Verb

(undermin)
  • To dig underneath (something), to make a passage or for destructive or military purposes; to sap.
  • * 2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, p. 312:
  • Martin, for instance, had on one occasion undermined a tree sacred to old gods, then stood in the path of its fall, but forced it to fall elsewhere by making the sign of the Cross.
  • (figuratively) To weaken or work against; to hinder, sabotage.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian
  • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage=The growing use of social media to spread anger and dissent in the Arab world has been hailed by western governments as one of the chief justifications for a completely unfettered internet. The US is reportedly funding the secret rollout of technology in Iran in an effort to undermine internet censors in the country.}}

    Antonyms

    * undergird

    founder

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who founds, establishes, and erects; one who lays a foundation; an author; one from whom something originates; one who endows.
  • (genetics) Someone for whose parents one has no data.
  • Antonyms
    * (one who founds) ruiner

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The iron worker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.
  • * 1957 , H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry , p. 161.
  • The term 'founder' was applied in the British iron industry long afterwards to the ironworker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.
  • One who casts metals in various forms; a caster.
  • a founder of cannon, bells, hardware, or printing types

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • Of a ship, to fill with water and sink.
  • * 1719 ,
  • We were not much more than a quarter of an hour out of our ship but we saw her sink, and then I understood for the first time what was meant by a ship foundering in the sea.
  • To fall; to stumble and go lame, as a horse.
  • To disable or lame (a horse) by causing internal inflammation and soreness in the feet or limbs.
  • To fail; to miscarry.
  • * Shakespeare
  • All his tricks founder .

    Usage notes

    Frequently confused with flounder. Both may be applied to the same situation, the difference is the severity of the action: floundering'' (struggling to maintain position) comes first, followed by ''foundering (losing it by falling, sinking or failing).

    Anagrams

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