UNDERLYING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Underlying

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/ˌəndərlˈaɪɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Underlie v. t. (past underlay; past part. underlain; pres. part. underlying)

To lie under; to rest beneath; to be situated under; as, a stratum of clay underlies the surface gravel.

To be at the basis of; to form the foundation of; to support; as, a doctrine underlying a theory.

To be subject or amenable to. (R.) "The knight of Ivanhoe... underlies the challenge of Brian der Bois Guilbert."

Underlie v. i. (past underlay; past part. underlain; pres. part. underlying) To lie below or under.

adjective

underlying adj.

Lying under or beneath; as, the underlying strata of a locality.

Hence: Fundamental; basic; as, underlying principles; underlying causes.

Implicit; not immediately obvious; requiring careful scrutiny to discover; as, the underlying sarcasm in her seemingly innocuous remark..

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Etymology of 'Underlying'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Underlying" Quotes from Famous Books

... spiritual teachings of the Old Testament as a whole is that they ring true to life and meet its needs. By their fruits we know them. It is the demonstration of the laboratory. We know that they are inspired because they inspire. The principles underlying the social sermons of Amos are as applicable to present conditions as when first uttered. The sooner they are practically applied the sooner our capitalistic civilization can raise its head now bowed In shame. The ...

— The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament • Charles Foster Kent

... central position in the Indian Ocean, and is far from any land not of coral formation. One of the islands in this group was formerly covered by a bed of mould, which, after an earthquake, disappeared, and was believed by the residents to have been washed by the rain through the broken masses of underlying rock; the island was thus rendered unproductive. Chamisso (See Chamisso, in Kotzebue's "First Voyage," volume iii., pages 182 and 136.) states, that earthquakes are felt in the Marshall atolls, which are far from any high land, and likewise in the islands ...

— Coral Reefs • Charles Darwin

... the underlying hatred of an autocracy for a successful democracy, envy of the wealth, liberty and commercial success of America, and a deep and strong resentment against the Monroe Doctrine which prevented Germany from using ...

— My Four Years in Germany • James W. Gerard

... had worn the best jacket until he was so mysteriously sent to Coventry, and though he carefully kept this fact to himself, it was the underlying meaning of what he told her when he said it would make no difference to him at school whether he wore a new or an ...

— That Scholarship Boy • Emma Leslie

... figure, and the grace of her movements. There was no betrayal of bad health in her strange pallor: on the contrary, she suggested the idea of rare physical strength. Her quietly respectful manner was, so to say, emphasised by an underlying self-possession, which looked capable of acting promptly and fearlessly in the critical emergencies of life. Otherwise, the expression of character in her face was essentially passive. Here was a steady, resolute young woman, ...

— Blind Love • Wilkie Collins

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