undergird

IPA: ˈʌndɝgˈɝd

To strengthen, secure, or reinforce by passing a rope, cable, or chain around the underside of an object.
(figurative) To give fundamental support; provide with a sound or secure basis; provide supportive evidence for.
To lend moral support to.
To secure below or underneath.

Examples of "undergird" in Sentences

The United States has a covert program to sabotage the systems that undergird Iran's nuclear facilities.
Long-range commitment and expertise in state planning laid the groundwork for and continue to undergird today's economic boom.
By day, Mr. Mercier the name is a pseudonym is a professor of philosophy in Berlin and has written extensively on the intractable questions that undergird his fiction: Is free will possible?
A referendum, meanwhile, divorces approval of unpopular tax increases with that of any larger -- and more appealing -- budget compromise that they would undergird, stacking the deck against passage.
This past summer, I had the opportunity to spend time with nearly 60 Teach For America corps members taking part in our Foundation's REALITY Israel Experience, a program that enables corps members to travel to Israel to explore the values that undergird their commitment to public service.
Many explanations have been suggested for the greater intolerance of more religiously observant people—that they are more likely to see the world in “we/they” or Manichaean terms, for example, or that moral absolutism—a clear distinction between right and wrong—is incompatible with the skeptical outlook that is said to undergird civic tolerance.