undercut

From Middle English undercutten, equivalent to under- +‎ cut.

• (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈʌndə(ɹ)kʌt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈʊndə(ɹ)kʊt/
• (verb, adjective) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndə(ɹ)ˈkʌt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ʊndə(ɹ)ˈkʊt/
• Rhymes: -ʌt

undercut (plural undercuts)

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.

5. A blow dealt upward.
6. (moldmaking) A section of a mold or pattern with negative draft angle
7. (motor racing) 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.

undercut (third-person singular simple present undercuts, present participle undercutting, simple past and past participle 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.

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.

4. To strike a heavy blow upward.
5. (motor racing) 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.

undercut (not comparable)

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

• untruced