Underpinning

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Underpin \Un`der*pin"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Underpinned}; p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Underpinning}.]
     1. To lay stones, masonry, etc., under, as the sills of a
        building, on which it is to rest.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. To support by some solid foundation; to place something
        underneath for support.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Underpinning \Un"der*pin`ning\, n.
     1. The act of one who underpins; the act of supporting by
        stones, masonry, or the like.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Arch.)
        (a) That by which a building is underpinned; the material
            and construction used for support, introduced beneath
            a wall already constructed.
        (b) The foundation, esp. of a frame house. [Local, U. S.]
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  underpinning
       See {underpin}

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  underpin
       v 1: support from beneath
       2: support with evidence or authority or make more certain or
          confirm; "The stories and claims were born out by the
          evidence" [syn: {corroborate}, {bear out}, {support}]
       [also: {underpinning}, {underpinned}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  48 Moby Thesaurus words for "underpinning":
     base, basement, basis, bearing wall, bed, bedding, bedrock, brace,
     buttress, column, floor, flooring, fond, footing, foundation,
     fundament, fundamental, ground, grounds, groundwork, hardpan,
     infrastructure, pavement, principle, prop, radical, riprap,
     rock bottom, root, rudiment, seat, seating, shore, sill,
     solid ground, solid rock, stay, stereobate, stylobate, substratum,
     substruction, substructure, terra firma, underbuilding,
     undercarriage, undergirding, understruction, understructure