Literary notes about undermine (AI summary)
In literature, “undermine” is deployed both in literal and metaphorical senses to convey the act of weakening or subverting a foundation—be it physical, political, or personal. Authors use the term to depict the gradual erosion of solid structures, as when walls are literally dug into or destabilized ([1], [2], [3]), and to illustrate more abstract invasions, such as the discreet assault on authority or reputation ([4], [5], [6], [7]). The word also captures acts of undercutting trust or integrity, whether by sowing doubts that weaken established beliefs ([8], [9], [10]) or by disrupting longstanding institutions and social orders ([11], [12], [13]). Through these varied uses, “undermine” becomes a versatile literary tool that reveals both the physical decay of edifices and the moral or societal decay lurking beneath the surface of human endeavors.
- During the night a number of men laboured to undermine the wall by one of the gates, and partially succeeded.
— from No Surrender! A Tale of the Rising in La Vendee by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty - Joab quickly ordered a trench to be dug round the town of Abel, and without calling on the inhabitants to surrender, he began to undermine the walls.
— from History of the Jews, Vol. 1 (of 6) by Heinrich Graetz - As the receding wave swept back with a hoarse roar, it seemed to scoop out deep caves in the beach, as if its purpose were to undermine the earth.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - (2) It is also able to undermine, to dissect, to disappoint, and to weaken.
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Nietzsche - But the rise of the Whig Party under the leadership of the able Earl of Shaftesbury was now threatening to undermine his power.
— from Give Me Liberty: The Struggle for Self-Government in Virginia by Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker - Madame de Pompadour hated the Jesuits because they attempted to undermine her influence with the king.
— from A Modern History, From the Time of Luther to the Fall of NapoleonFor the Use of Schools and Colleges by John Lord - But I kept him in the weather bureau right along, to undermine his reputation.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain - Then doubts began to assail it and undermine it, and the scholars resumed their labors.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain - Have you considered what it is to undermine the confidence that should subsist between my daughter and myself?
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - Time, events, or the unaided individual action of the mind, will sometimes undermine or destroy an opinion, without any outward sign of the change.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 2 by Alexis de Tocqueville - The purpose of the plan revealed in the Protocols is to undermine all authority in order that a new authority in the form of autocracy may be set up.
— from The International Jew : The World's Foremost Problem by Anonymous - Thus men perpetuate institutions which undermine the influence of the mothers, and corrupt the morals of the sons.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - Spectator , you seem with the utmost Arrogance to undermine the very Fundamentals upon which we conducted our selves.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
