undercut

/'ʌndəkʌt/

Thân thiện

A lumberjack makes an undercut on the large pine tree.

Definition

1. Verb:

   • To sell goods or services at a lower price than a competitor: This is the primary commercial meaning, describing a business strategy of offering lower prices to gain market advantage.
   • To cut away material from the underside of something: This refers to a physical action of cutting or carving from below, often to create an overhang or to weaken a structure.
   • To strike a ball so as to give it backspin or lift: This is a technical term used in sports like tennis or golf, describing a specific stroke technique.

2. Noun:

   • The tender meat from the loin of an animal, especially beef: This is a specific cut of meat, located on each side of the backbone.
   • A notch cut underneath something, especially a tree: This refers to a cut made on the side of a tree trunk facing the intended direction of its fall, used in logging.
   • A stroke in sports that imparts backspin: This is the action or result of the verb form used in sports.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • The new supermarket undercut all the local grocers by 20%. (Commercial use)
  • The sculptor undercut the marble to create dramatic shadows. (Artistic/Physical action)
  • She undercut the tennis ball perfectly, making it difficult to return. (Sports use)

• Noun:

  • For dinner, we grilled beef undercut with a red wine sauce. (Culinary use)
  • The logger made a precise undercut before making the felling cut. (Logging use)
  • His undercut had so much backspin that the ball stopped dead on the green. (Sports use)

Advanced Usage

• Economic Context: In business strategy, "to undercut" often implies a deliberate, aggressive pricing tactic that can lead to price wars.

  • The airline's decision to undercut fares forced its rivals to respond.

• Sculpture and Manufacturing: The term describes a precise technique to create under-hanging forms that cannot be achieved by carving from the top.

  • The detailed foliage was achieved through careful undercutting.

Variants and Related Words

• Undercutter (n): A person or company that engages in undercutting prices.

  • The new company was a fierce undercutter in the mobile phone market.

• Undercutting (n/gerund): The action or process of undercutting.

  • The undercutting of prices eroded the industry's profit margins.

Synonyms

• Verb (Commercial): Undersell, underbid, underprice.
• Verb (General): Undermine, weaken, sap.
• Noun (Meat): Tenderloin, fillet (note: these are similar but not always identical cuts).

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(Note: "undercut" itself is not typically used in phrasal verb constructions. The advanced usages are more idiomatic or contextual.) - To undercut someone on price: A common construction specifying the nature of the competition. - They were consistently undercut on price by online retailers.

Related Idioms

• To undercut one's own position: To act in a way that weakens one's own argument, authority, or situation.
  • By making that concession, he undercut his own position in the negotiations.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a cut made underneath to remove material
2. (sports) a stroke that puts reverse spin on the ball
   • cuts do not bother a good tennis player
3. a notch cut in the trunk of tree in order to determine the direction of its fall
4. the tender meat of the loin muscle on each side of the vertebral column
5. the material removed by a cut made underneath

Verb

1. cut obliquely into (a tree) below the main cut and on the side toward which the tree will fall
2. strike (the ball) in golf, tennis, or hockey obliquely downward so as to give a backspin or elevation to the shot
3. cut away the underpart of
   • undercut a vein of ore
4. cut away material from the underside of (an object) so as to leave an overhanging portion in relief
5. sell cheaper than one's competition

Từ đồng nghĩa

• cut
• tenderloin
• undersell