Verb
To excavate the earth beneath, or the part of, especially for the purpose of causing to fall or be overthrown; to form a mine under; to sap; as, to undermine a wall.
Fig.: To remove the foundation or support of by clandestine means; to ruin in an underhand way; as, to undermine reputation; to undermine the constitution of the state.
Source: Webster's dictionaryCapitulation, sycophancy, and cowardice will only undermine us... Sometimes, you have to courageously follow your own path and not try to curry favor with anyone. Robert Aumann
The broader and more influential organisations of businessmen have acted to undermine the basic foundation of the free market system they purport to represent and defend. Milton Friedman
An interesting thing about book groups, it seems to me, is that there is no correlation between a brilliant book and a brilliant discussion. The first seems sometimes even to undermine the second. Stacy Schiff
Vanity and narcissism - the compulsive need to be admired and praised - undermine one's courage, for one then fights on someone else's conviction rather than one's own. Rollo May
No matter what a woman's appearance may be, it will be used to undermine what she is saying and taken to individualize - as her personal problem - observations she makes about the beauty myth in society. Naomi Wolf
Don't undermine my silence, its got reason; don't rate it, it as got no scale. African Proverb