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Undermine vs Shadow - What's the difference?

undermine | shadow |

As verbs the difference between undermine and shadow

is that undermine is to dig underneath (something), to make a passage or for destructive or military purposes; to sap while shadow is to block light or radio transmission.

As a noun shadow is

a dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object.

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

    External links

    * * *

    shadow

    English

    (wikipedia shadow)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.}}
  • Relative darkness, especially as caused by the interruption of light; gloom, obscurity.
  • * Denham
    • Night's sable shadows from the ocean rise.
  • * Spenser
    • In secret shadow from the sunny ray, / On a sweet bed of lilies softly laid.
  • (obsolete) A reflected image, as in a mirror or in water.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • That which looms as though a shadow.
  • *
    • Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow' cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose ' shadow falls over us all.
  • A small degree; a shade.
  • * Bible, James i. 17
    • no variableness, neither shadow of turning
  • An imperfect and faint representation.
    • He came back from war the shadow of a man.
  • * Bible, Hebrews x. 1
    • the law having a shadow of good things to come
  • * Milton
    • [types] and shadows of that destined seed
  • One who secretly or furtively follows another.
  • * Milton
    • Sin and her shadow Death
  • A type of lettering form of word processors that makes a cubic effect.
  • An influence, especially a pervasive or a negative one.
  • *
  • A spirit; a ghost; a shade.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Hence, horrible shadow !
  • (obsolete, Latinism) An uninvited guest accompanying one who was invited.
    • (Nares)

    Usage notes

    * A person (or object) is said to "cast", "have", or "throw" a shadow if that shadow is caused by the person (either literally, by eclipsing a light source, or figuratively). The shadow may then be described as the shadow "cast" or "thrown" by the person, or as the shadow "of" the person, or simply as the person's shadow.

    Derived terms

    * backshadowing * foreshadowing * rain shadow * shadow acting * shadow boxing * shadow cabinet * shadow government * shadow minister * shadow play * shadow price * sideshadowing * unshadow

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To block light or radio transmission.
    • Looks like that cloud's going to shadow us.
  • (espionage) To secretly or discreetly track or follow another, to keep under surveillance.
  • To accompany a professional during the working day, so as to learn about an occupation one intends to take up.
  • (programming) To make an identifier, usually a variable, inaccessible by declaring another of the same name within the scope of the first.
  • (computing) To apply the shadowing process to (the contents of ROM).

    • Derived terms

    * overshadow