1
as in supported
to lie underneath
A layer of rock underlies the topsoil.
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2
as in grounded
to form the basis or foundation of (something, such as an idea)
The assumption that underlies their argument is faulty.
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of underlay
This conviction underlay the Victorian workhouses in 19th-century England that Charles Dickens critiqued through his novels.
—
Colin Gordon, The Conversation, 29 May 2025
There are still cheerleaders who say H.W. and Clinton’s top-tax-rate increases underlay the 1990s boom and budget surpluses.
—Brian Domitrovic, Forbes.com, 10 May 2025
There was another story that underlay the peace negotiations, and that was the story of the love between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.
—Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2024
The consumer welfare philosophy also underlay U.S. negotiations that resulted in international antitrust cooperation agreements and in competition chapters within bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.
—Alden Abbott, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for underlay
Colin Gordon, The Conversation, 29 May 2025
There are still cheerleaders who say H.W. and Clinton’s top-tax-rate increases underlay the 1990s boom and budget surpluses.
—Brian Domitrovic, Forbes.com, 10 May 2025
There was another story that underlay the peace negotiations, and that was the story of the love between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.
—Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2024
The consumer welfare philosophy also underlay U.S. negotiations that resulted in international antitrust cooperation agreements and in competition chapters within bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.
—Alden Abbott, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for underlay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for underlay
Verb
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Councilmember George Fuller said information about data centers remains unclear and supported city officials seeking to develop standards for such uses.—
Hema Sivanandam,
Mercury News,
19 May 2026
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Richard is implied to be Hutu, though his family are never suggested to have participated in or supported the massacres.—
Josh Slater-Williams,
IndieWire,
19 May 2026
Verb
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Some viewers even felt its liberal use of absurdity in fact grounded the show in the real world compared to the high-minded weepies on daytime, achieving honesty through nontraditional means.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
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Departures to the airport have been grounded due to thunderstorms moving through the area.—
Christa Swanson,
CBS News,
17 May 2026
Verb
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Shirilla’s legal camp filed an appeal in September 2023, but the Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals upheld her conviction.—
Marlene Lenthang,
NBC news,
15 May 2026
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Sharon Fermyn, who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly 20 years, now lives along the dividing line between congressional districts that cuts through Columbus Park after the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the new congressional maps Tuesday.—
Ben Wheeler,
Kansas City Star,
15 May 2026
Verb
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OpenAI had already established a for-profit subsidiary.—
Ashley Capoot,Lora Kolodny,
CNBC,
18 May 2026
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Meanwhile, the resurgence of Eurasian empires—notably China and Russia—strikes at the heart of the cellular order established under American hegemony.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
Verb
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This was based on a rule enacted last year.—
Jackson Thompson OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
17 May 2026
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That projection is based on the player’s performance in each metric over the last three seasons (five for goalies), weighted for recency where more recent seasons carry more significance and regressed to the mean.—
Dom Luszczyszyn,
New York Times,
17 May 2026
Verb
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Worldwide shipping disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the importance of having a local food supply in Hawaii, and the state in recent years has offered additional support to the farms.—
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
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Robust spending and strong demand for AI infrastructure have reinforced analysts’ confidence in several stocks.—
TipRanks.com Staff,
CNBC,
17 May 2026
Verb
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The patriarch’s decision to resettle in the United States had been predicated on the promise that his family would be together.—
Dan Barry,
New York Times,
12 May 2026
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The big bet on AI—the near-trillion dollars that hyperscalers are spending to build out the technology’s infrastructure—is predicated on the belief that productivity will skyrocket.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
6 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Underlay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underlay. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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