Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#UNDERCUTCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#UNDERCUT undercutten, equivalent to under- +‎ cutCategory:English terms prefixed with under-#CUT.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (noun) /ˈʌndə(ɹ)kʌt/Category:English 3-syllable words#UNDERCUTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#UNDERCUT

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#UNDERCUT
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈʊndə(ɹ)kʊt/Category:English 3-syllable words#UNDERCUTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#UNDERCUT
• (verb, adjective) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndə(ɹ)ˈkʌt/Category:English 3-syllable words#UNDERCUTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#UNDERCUT

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#UNDERCUT
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ʊndə(ɹ)ˈkʊt/Category:English 3-syllable words#UNDERCUTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#UNDERCUT
• Rhymes: -ʌtCategory:Rhymes:English/ʌt#UNDERCUTCategory:Rhymes:English/ʌt/3 syllables#UNDERCUT

Noun

undercut (plural undercuts)Category:English lemmas#UNDERCUTCategory:English nouns#UNDERCUTCategory:English countable nouns#UNDERCUTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#UNDERCUTCategory:Pages with entries#UNDERCUTCategory:Pages with 1 entry#UNDERCUT

1. A cut made in the lower part of something; the material so removed.
2. The notch cut in a tree to direct its fall when being felled.
3. The underside of a sirloin of beef; the fillet.
4. A hairstyle that is shaved or clipped short on the sides and kept long on the top.
   • 2024 June 18, Spencer Klavan, “A Matter of Taste”, in The American Mind‎:

     Maybe it’s true that “the Left can’t meme,” if “the Left” refers to the earnest suburban revolutionary with an undercut and a nose ring who typically stalks your replies on X.

     Category:English terms with quotations#UNDERCUT

5. A blow dealt upward.
6. (moldmaking) A section of a mold or pattern with negative draft angle
7. (motor racingCategory:en:Motor racing#UNDERCUT) A pit stop strategy in which a driver seeks to gain an advantage over someone by pitting before them and using fresh tyres to make up time.

   Antonym: overcut

8. The continuation of the saddle of a rabbit's coat toward the front legs.

Verb

undercut (third-person singular simple present undercuts, present participle undercutting, simple past and past participle undercut)Category:English lemmas#UNDERCUTCategory:English verbs#UNDERCUTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#UNDERCUTCategory:Pages with entries#UNDERCUTCategory:Pages with 1 entry#UNDERCUT

1. To sell (something) at a lower price, or to work for lower wages, than a competitor.

   Synonym: undersell

   • 1959 November, J. N. Westwood, “The Railways of Canada”, in Trains Illustrated, page 555:

     The fact that, to cover low tariffs on bulk commodities, the railways have to charge very high rates on high-value goods, such as manufactures, has provided road operators with a golden opportunity to undercut the railway.

     Category:English terms with quotations#UNDERCUT

2. To create an overhang by cutting away material from underneath.
3. To undermine.
   • 2012 July 18, Scott Tobias, “The Dark Knight Rises”, in AV Club‎:

     Though Bane’s sing-song voice gives his pronouncements a funny lilt, he doesn’t have any of the Joker’s deranged wit, and Nolan isn’t interested in undercutting his seriousness for the sake of a breezier entertainment.

     Category:English terms with quotations#UNDERCUT

4. To strike a heavy blow upward.
5. (motor racingCategory:en:Motor racing#UNDERCUT) To employ the undercut strategy.
6. To downplay or minimize.
   • 2025 February 4, Queerious, “Don't Let Them Forget”, in SCP Foundation‎, archived from the original on 28 February 2025:

     This was a very generous way of describing the swarm of cables, kit-bashed thaumatic cores, Noogenic foci and para-technological inverters, all surrounded by an astoundingly complex cognitohazardous sigil and multiple ontological anchors. This, simultaneously, simplified the interdisciplinary effort that had swelled in a miniscule amount of time, and undercut the sheer conceptual impact this could leave in all of their respective fields.

     Category:English terms with quotations#UNDERCUT

Adjective

undercut (not comparable)Category:English lemmas#UNDERCUTCategory:English adjectives#UNDERCUTCategory:English uncomparable adjectives#UNDERCUTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#UNDERCUTCategory:Pages with entries#UNDERCUTCategory:Pages with 1 entry#UNDERCUT

1. Produced by undercutting.
2. Designed so as to cut from the underside.
3. Having the parts in relief cut under.

Anagrams

• untruced