undercut

noun

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.

   “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. A section of a mold or pattern with negative draft angle
7. 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.
8. The continuation of the saddle of a rabbit's coat toward the front legs.

verb

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

   “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.

   “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. To employ the undercut strategy.
6. To downplay or minimize.

   “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.”

adj

1. (not-comparable)Produced by undercutting.
2. (not-comparable)Designed so as to cut from the underside.
3. (not-comparable)Having the parts in relief cut under.