different between undercut vs debase

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?t

Noun

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.
5. A blow dealt upward.

Translations

Verb

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.
2. To create an overhang by cutting away material from underneath.
3. To undermine.
   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises[1]

     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.

Translations

Adjective

undercut (not comparable)

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

Anagrams

• untruced

English

Etymology

From de- +? base, from Old French bas, from Latin bassus. Cognate with Spanish debajo (“under, beneath, below”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??be?s/
• Rhymes: -e?s

Verb

debase (third-person singular simple present debases, present participle debasing, simple past and past participle debased)

1. (transitive) To lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade.
   • 1961 May 9, Newton N. Minow, "Television and the Public Interest":

     And just as history will decide whether the leaders of today's world employed the atom to destroy the world or rebuild it for mankind's benefit, so will history decide whether today's broadcasters employed their powerful voice to enrich the people or to debase them.

2. (transitive, archaic) To lower in position or rank.
3. (transitive) To lower the value of (a currency) by reducing the amount of valuable metal in the coins.

Synonyms

• (lower in character, quality, or value): abase, adulterate, degrade, demean

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• e-based, sea bed, seabed