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undermine
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  • After the Voting Rights Act passed, court clerks and judges still kept the jury rolls mostly white through various tactics designed to undermine the law.†   (source)
  • That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations!†   (source)
  • More and more kids saw her cheer-leading behavior as undermining the basketball team and its perfect record.†   (source)
  • No aspect of his plans was undermined, put off, questioned.†   (source)
  • As the King's Champion, she might find ways to save countless lives—ways to undermine the king's authority.†   (source)
  • Ethel was a short, heavyset woman with an ageless, blocky strength; yet her physical power was undermined by a slow mind and a brutal lack of confidence.†   (source)
  • That afternoon, without stirring from her daybed, Emily had guessed that Lola was undermining Briony's play, a suspicion confirmed by the diagonally ripped poster on the easel.†   (source)
  • Farley could hold me up in another hijacked broadcast, revealing me to the world in an attempt to undermine the Silvers.†   (source)
  • She saw now that she had undermined his authority in all eyes by flouting his orders.†   (source)
  • Mother told Father that she was in charge of disciplining "the boy" and that he had undermined her authority by buying the gifts.†   (source)
  • Constantly undermining me.†   (source)
  • You can't keep throwing tantrums about it, you can't keep trying to undermine this family—I won't let you."†   (source)
  • Because I outsmarted his sadistic Hunger Games, made the Capitol look foolish, and consequently undermined his control.†   (source)
  • The analogy, however, seems to falter when one considers that, while there were no witches then, there are Communists and capitalists now, and in each camp there is certain proof that spies of each side are at work undermining the other.†   (source)
  • I declined to suggest that clients examine the underside of the piece, as Hobie himself— eager to educate, at the price of fatally undermining his own interests was only too quick to do.†   (source)
  • In denying workers the value of what they have produced, the capitalists are undermining their own economic system.†   (source)
  • Although you can make yourself dizzy going from vase to faces and back again, you can't undermine your sense of reality in quite such a visceral way as you can with the train.†   (source)
  • He pushed at its weak places, undermined the stronger sections, and fought to make her listen, but to no avail.†   (source)
  • But they represent a danger to us; they undermine our confidence on the battlefield in the fight against world terror.†   (source)
  • The biggest and most powerful newspapers formed an explicit combine to back Allerton and undermine Harrison.†   (source)
  • "I don't think we'll undermine all law and order in the state of New York if I let you in early."†   (source)
  • The alliance was undermined by one of the big processors, which cut lucrative deals with a core group of potato farmers.†   (source)
  • US and Thee Prophettes kept cool, not wanting anything to undermine the benefit dance.†   (source)
  • And because he wouldn't join in their criminal schemes, they always tried to undermine him, to pollute his name by spreading false, hurtful rumors about him.†   (source)
  • My feelings of tenderness and pity were undermined by the sight of them crossing the sidewalk in their bundled clothing, the child determinedly weeping, his mother drooping as she walked, wild-haired, a wretched and pathetic pair.†   (source)
  • It was made clear, furthermore, that the Society did not regard the houses of businessmen or the 'newly rich' as 'distinguished', and in my opinion this piece of out-dated thinking crucially undermined any serious authority the Society may have achieved to arbitrate on standards in our profession.†   (source)
  • But the vividness and depth of his memories touched her and slowly undermined her resolve to stay objective.†   (source)
  • By the time of Shaddam IV, while they were still formidable, their strength had been sapped by overconfidence, and the sustaining mystique of their warrior religion had been deeply undermined by cynicism.†   (source)
  • It doesn't help that you are so eager to undermine my self-control, either.†   (source)
  • Ishmael was all right, but Ahab he could not respect and this ultimately undermined the book for him.†   (source)
  • When Newton had proved that the same natural laws applied everywhere in the universe, one might think that he thereby undermined people's faith in God's omnipotence.†   (source)
  • It'll undermine its confidence."†   (source)
  • Her father had a way of undermining his sister's lectures on the innate superiority of any given Finch: he always told his daughter the rest of it, quietly and solemnly, but Jean Louise sometimes thought she detected an unmistakably profane glint in Atticus Finch's eyes, or was it merely the light hitting his glasses?†   (source)
  • Each time we shut down a factory, confidence in the company is further undermined.†   (source)
  • We poked through the remains of hospital foundations, undermined by erosion channels.†   (source)
  • He cocked his head, trying on his "I'm so wholesome" routine, but his bloodshot eyes undermined his efforts.†   (source)
  • Fear undermines logic and opens up all sorts of opportunities for people like me.†   (source)
  • In fact, living with any of the relatives was out of the question now that they had so undermined his dignity.†   (source)
  • He would sometimes crawl up under an undermined bank or into an old muskrat den.†   (source)
  • But she uses this need against him, she uses it to undermine him.†   (source)
  • How long could he hold out before he, too, became lost in the hunger and fatigue that undermined his decisions?†   (source)
  • But seeing Frank and his wife began to undermine my parochialism and loosen the hold of the tribalism that still imprisoned me.†   (source)
  • He would leave tutoring early or skip it altogether, acts that undermined Luma's authority before the rest of the team.†   (source)
  • Some talk about trying to undermine others without getting caught.†   (source)
  • He became convinced we were spying on him, trying to undermine him.†   (source)
  • One morning she saw that the red ants had left the undermined foundations, crossed the garden, climbed up the railing, where the begonias had taken on an earthen color, and had penetrated into the heart of the house.†   (source)
  • The irony, though, is that that very desire for confidence is precisely what ends up undermining the accuracy of their decision.†   (source)
  • It seemed to undermine all that he was, or that people thought he was.†   (source)
  • When more girls scream and protest, when they run away from the brothels, then the business model of trafficking will be undermined.†   (source)
  • Nothing like the sloppy Italians who were constantly trying to undermine us.†   (source)
  • That, coupled with their shaken confidence, could undermine everything they'd accomplished so far.†   (source)
  • No. Paquette hadn't liked the point Mastine had made earlier, that Paquette, by not allowing Tricia in the room, could himself have had a hand in undermining the lineup as evidence.†   (source)
  • Instead, I let my memory drift lazily backward …. to Aphrodite and the fact that Nyx was still blessing her with visions, even though Neferet had spread the word that her visions were false …. to the small, almost imperceptible sense of wrongness that had grown like a fungus around Neferet, until it culminated Sunday night in her undermining the decisions I'd made for the Dark Daughters …. to the nasty scene I'd witnessed between Neferet and …. and ….†   (source)
  • That scene, however, in no way undermined his professional reputation, although he too was unable to fix Covadonga's brakes.†   (source)
  • I just wonder what they're going to think up at Group about the man who's undermining our whole security program.†   (source)
  • Why was he undermining me like this?†   (source)
  • He told it all to her, and as he spoke, she listened with an intensity that undermined periodic scoffs until they stopped altogether.†   (source)
  • Those events simply undermined all of our work.†   (source)
  • A jealous rival who undermines her, deceiving the putative patron as to her true, noble nature.†   (source)
  • I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open.†   (source)
  • If you insist on this, you risk undermining the case.†   (source)
  • Thus, both the Secretary of War and the Secretary of State were secretly campaigning for Hamilton, supplying him with inside information, and undermining the intentions of their President, whom they saw riding for a fall.†   (source)
  • It goes on and on, numbing her, undermining her willingness to fight for the future, hers or anybody else's.†   (source)
  • All Sounis's machinations to undermine the rule of Eddis had ceased.†   (source)
  • Sisterton had undermined those hopes.†   (source)
  • The president knows when speaking with his brother that he is safe from security leaks or attempts to undermine his authority.†   (source)
  • That's what undermines the morale of an organization.†   (source)
  • If the cadre discovered it or sensed its undermining presence, then they would come for me and they would come united.†   (source)
  • The kabaragoya is in fact a useful scavenger and is now protected by law as it preys on fresh water crabs that undermine and ruin the bunds of paddy fields.†   (source)
  • This law exacerbated the class tensions that a number of historians have identified as undermining Confederate unity and morale.†   (source)
  • It had undermined him, taken away something that he hadn't even realized he possessed; he had regarded it so lightly, so casually.†   (source)
  • Every man can decide whether these methods of choosing State officials tend to elevate traitors and undermine public liberty.†   (source)
  • Errtu had warned Kessell against raising a third tower, but the wizard, frail of ego, had grown more stubborn with each passing day of the campaign, envisioning the demon's, or even Crenshinibon's, advice as a ploy to undermine his absolute control.†   (source)
  • Economics aside, this is a conspiracy to undermine the leadership of a suspicious, authoritarian regime.†   (source)
  • You talk about undermining people's morale!†   (source)
  • When darkness fell, the armadillos instantly burrowed out, and within a few years armadillos were undermining golf greens and dumping over citrus trees from St. Augustine to Palm Beach.†   (source)
  • But Roseman had also spent a sleepless night, brooding over the Perry Mason television program the evening before, which his wife was fond of but toward which Roseman cherished a fierce ambivalence, wanting at once to be a successful trial lawyer like Perry Mason and, since this was impossible, to destroy Perry Mason by undermining him.†   (source)
  • I was glad to be shut of my job—the first and only salaried position, excluding the military, of my life—even though its loss seriously undermined my already modest solvency.†   (source)
  • It was bloody stupid, it put a strain on Karl, endangered him, undermined his confidence in us.†   (source)
  • He looked at both of them, feeling that their rude staring was undermining his gaze and his silence, by which he had intended to impress them into a sufficiently solemn and receptive state for the things he intended to say to them; and wondering whether or not he should reprimand them.†   (source)
  • Whatever we earned we entrusted to him; the theft of the money from my sari while I slept had undermined not only my confidence but Nathan's: besides, Puli was manifestly more capable of caring for it than we were.†   (source)
  • They can only undermine it.†   (source)
  • She could not bear the sapping, undermining waves that beat down from the iron roof.†   (source)
  • Fear undermines faith in the establishment.†   (source)
  • You're deliberately attempting to undermine my faith in my abilities as a Mentat," he rasped.†   (source)
  • I liked Lacey, but I saw Margo's point about the undermining.†   (source)
  • But we're facing evidence here that undermines our position.†   (source)
  • Long-term use undermines the nervous system.†   (source)
  • We don't believe there are secret forces undermining our lives.†   (source)
  • She could undermine his control, and control was essential to his art, his life, his sanity.†   (source)
  • No matter what I say, I sound as though I'm undermining your Jesus Prayer.†   (source)
  • By selling your lace so cheaply, you hurt people's livelihoods and undermine our economy.†   (source)
  • And he's doing everything he can to undermine the investigation."†   (source)
  • I lost sight of her when she came close to the undermined bank.†   (source)
  • When you start becoming reflective about the process, it undermines your ability.†   (source)
  • Walter, Govan, and I believed an appeal would undermine the moral stance we had taken.†   (source)
  • But the lack of under-standing doesn't undermine the reality of either experience.†   (source)
  • "I expect he's a card cheat, and card cheats undermine society faster than anything.†   (source)
  • * Advocates also undermine the trustworthiness of their cause by cherry-picking evidence.†   (source)
  • That could further undermine their already fragile state of mind.†   (source)
  • It's a typical pre-emptive retaliation to undermine potential complaints from Blomkvist."†   (source)
  • I'd overcome them with yeses, undermine them with grins, I'd agree them to death and destruction.†   (source)
  • We feel that this attitude could only harm the freshmen and undermine the plebe system.†   (source)
  • And I really wouldn't think about trying to undermine our plans in any way.†   (source)
  • Lonely," he declared in an undermined voice.†   (source)
  • But he was right; Woref had undermined his own threat.†   (source)
  • The ring must symbolize something dreadful indeed if it could undermine their courage.†   (source)
  • To that end, one must know the enemy's purpose before adopting a strategy to undermine it.†   (source)
  • She said, "I don't seek to undermine your command, Orrin.†   (source)
  • Her misgivings undermined Eragon's remaining fortitude.†   (source)
  • Needless to say, beer too can undermine body and soul, if downed in enough quantity.†   (source)
  • It was the way she did this, rather than her words, that suddenly made me see things her way; I could see that Ruth was making a big effort to present not just herself, but all of us, in the right way to Chrissie and Rodney; and here I was, threatening to undermine her and start an embarrassing scene.†   (source)
  • He was sure Ginny, Neville, and Luna were sitting together at this moment, perhaps wondering where he, Ron, and Hermione were, or debating how best to undermine Snape's new regime.†   (source)
  • He can't be allowed to dock points… that would be ridiculous… it would completely undermine the prefect system.†   (source)
  • Harry persisted in the common room that evening, but his assertion that the whole team would be devastated if Ron left was somewhat undermined by the fact that the rest of the team was sitting in a huddle in a distant corner, clearly muttering about Ron and casting him nasty looks.†   (source)
  • I try to think of something to say to undermine what has just happened, to negate it, but I can hear the slight burst of static indicating my microphone has been cut off and the mayor has taken over.†   (source)
  • Then, as if it were perfectly normal to wander about an office in the middle of a conversation, he rose and crossed to the wall, where he gingerly straightened the portrait of Mr. Marx, who, having slipped on his hook, was admittedly undermining the ideological authority of the room.†   (source)
  • Grandmother developed such contempt for Ethel—and for Ethel's inept replacements—that she plotted with considerable cunning to undermine what she regarded as the already woefully inadequate abilities of her serving women.†   (source)
  • Rehearsals had continued without Jackson, but it was undermining not to have the important first scene, Arabella's leave-taking, brought to perfection, and Pierrot was too nervous about the fate of his brother down in the bowels of the house to be much in the way of a dastardly foreign count; whatever happened to Jackson would be Pierrot's future too.†   (source)
  • He married and had children. but his post-traumatic stress disorder continued to undermine his ability to manage his behavior.†   (source)
  • Nothing in Tom-Carl's face indicated that he might have a rude surprise coming to him: already, prosperity-bred independence had undermined his kingdom until it was foundering; two more elections and it would crumble into thesis material for a sociology major.†   (source)
  • Mr. Madison made a long-winded speech about cooperation, about harmony and understanding; how certain elements were out to undermine all Mark Keppel High School stood for.†   (source)
  • It left the Church out of the loop, undermining their self-proclaimed status as the sole conduit to God.†   (source)
  • DANFORTH: There lurks nowhere in your heart, nor hidden in your spirit, any desire to undermine this court?†   (source)
  • He tried to soften the church's position on science by proclaiming that science did not undermine the existence of God, but rather reinforced it.†   (source)
  • Harriet had previously lived in a house across the road, but given that neither Gottfried nor Isabella was consistently stable, and one could clearly see how that upset the girl, undermined her studies and so on, in 1964, when she was fourteen, I arranged for her to move into my house.†   (source)
  • Hadn't I hated him a little recently, for talking to Caroline behind my back, for failing to defend me when Daddy denounced us, for never bothering to tell me that he didn't agree with what Daddy said, and even just now, for undermining my trust in Rose?†   (source)
  • Perhaps my cousins were all relieved to hear that Owen was "getting over a cold" because they thought this might partially explain the hypnotic awfulness of Owen's voice; I could have told them that Owen's voice was uninfluenced by his having a cold—and his "getting over a cold" was news to me—but I was so relieved to see my cousins behaving respectfully that I had no desire to undermine Owen's effect on them.†   (source)
  • I was nervous that if we won a reversal and had to retry the case, we might be disadvantaged by disclosing so much information to state investigators—who would then be better prepared to smear or undermine our evidence—but I was still confident that any reasonable, honest investigation would reveal the absurdity of the charges against Walter.†   (source)
  • In an increasing number of homeless, poor, and working poor families, the things that people must do to survive undermines most family structures.†   (source)
  • I owe it to Cinna, who risked everything by undermining President Snow and turning my bridal silk into mockingjay plumage.†   (source)
  • For years, they had been the unspoken issue between us, and I at once felt guilty, sorry that she could justifiably accuse me of undermining her, of wanting them so much to be mine, sometimes, that I couldn't help imagining what it would be like if they were.†   (source)
  • Undermining.†   (source)
  • Mary Beth Baird looked quite lush—like a slightly plump starlet—in her white raiment; but both the Holy Mother effect, and the Holy Virgin effect, were undermined by her long, rakish pigtail.†   (source)
  • But if the defendant alleges new evidence that could lead to a different outcome in the case—or that undermines the reliability of the trial—there is typically a hearing.†   (source)
  • The ploy undermined her authority.†   (source)
  • I cannot have a news editor whom I can't trust or work with and who devotes his precious time to undermining my decisions.†   (source)
  • The only way to get back at her was to undermine her credibility by adding his contributions to the gossip about her in the canteen.†   (source)
  • However, it was more important to shore up Orrin's confidence than to commiserate with him, for if his resolve weakened, it would interfere with his duties and undermine the morale of his men.†   (source)
  • I was scrambling frantically to make this work, to keep it as close to the truth as possible so that my inability to lie convincingly would not undermine the excuse, but before I could go on, Charlie's expression reminded me that he didn't know arything about the cliff.†   (source)
  • My actions have never undermined you.†   (source)
  • They had no right to undermine him now.†   (source)
  • With short, clear words, he explained why he had agreed to the council's demands and how he and Saphira had attempted to undermine them.†   (source)
  • He could take no ground, find no entrance or purchase, nor undermine the impenetrable barrier that stood before him.†   (source)
  • But giving in at this point would only undermine any chance he had of beating Kahlid at his own game.†   (source)
  • One of the amazing things about America is the way it can both undermine you and keep you believing in your own possibilities, pumping you with hope.†   (source)
  • Collectively, Fornatee and Mandela threatened to undermine Luma's authority over the Under 15 Fugees, an ominous sign heading into the team's season opener, just a week away.†   (source)
  • They sat there and waited for Lenny, the jazz musicians emitting a faint reek of weed, a few monosyllabic chicks in existential black, the clean-cut college boys with secret deviant tastes, the entire staff of a little magazine called Polyester Wok, five righteous souls whose anger at the world was being undermined by the events of the past few days.†   (source)
  • Undermining my throne for months?†   (source)
  • No one thought that anything could undermine her self-control, until one day she felt an itching on her back.†   (source)
  • When he accuses me of seeking to undermine him, I merely answer that my only purpose in calling attention to his errors is to strengthen our war effort by eliminating inefficiency.†   (source)
  • Undermining.†   (source)
  • Feeling her way along through the empty bedrooms she perceived the continuous rumble of the termites as they carved the wood, the snipping of the moths in the clothes closets, and the devastating noise of the enormous red ants that had prospered during the deluge and were undermining the foundations of the house.†   (source)
  • It will undermine trial by jury by introducing questions too complicated for a decision in that mode.†   (source)
  • Mutiny winked at, but one can't make a plain statement of fact about the dangers of promoting the ill-bred and vulgar to positions of authority, or policies that encourage the most vile sort of behavior, and even undermine everything civilization has always stood for, without losing business contacts or promotions."†   (source)
  • She also asked Eragon to bind the soldiers and nobles with spells—even as he had bound the people of Uru'baen—to keep them from trying to undermine the newly established peace.†   (source)
  • He gave a speech in 1936 stating that the executions were the only way to rid the Soviet  Union of the dissidents striving to undermine its grand success.†   (source)
  • And if any of you have been deceived by vicious rumors aimed to undermine your faith in the great social program of our leadersyou may trust the word of Miss Taggart, who-†   (source)
  • "With all respect, Chief Simpson, I can't divulge to the public any details of the case that could undermine the investigation."†   (source)
  • Having crossed through to the other side of the rain. the merchandise in the booths was falling apart, the cloths spread over the doors were splotched with mold, the counters undermined by termites, the walls eaten away by dampness, but the Arabs of the third generation were sitting in the same place and in the same position as their fathers and grandfathers, taciturn, dauntless, invulnerable to time and disaster, as alive or as dead as they had been after the insomnia plague and…†   (source)
  • When Galbatorix learns that we are still alive, it shall undermine his confidence, for he shall not know if other dragons and Riders have survived his attempt to exterminate them.†   (source)
  • In an instant, Roran thought of a half-dozen schemes to undermine the confidence of their foes, each more outlandish than the last, until he struck upon an idea that was so simple and so daring, it seemed perfect.†   (source)
  • Poor health and unexpected deaths from AIDS, malaria, and childbirth also create loan delinquencies that undermine the model.†   (source)
  • The newspapers, like puppets on tangled strings, were shouting with the same belligerence and on the same dates: "It is social treason to ascribe too much importance to Hank Rearden's desertion and to undermine public morale by the old-fashioned belief that an individual can be of any significance to society.†   (source)
  • Taking our powers of rapid cognition seriously means we have to acknowledge the subtle influences that can alter or undermine or bias the products of our unconscious.†   (source)
  • The newspapers said that the beggars in the streets, a sight that had not been seen in years, had been sent by international Communism to discredit the military junta and undermine the return to order and progress.†   (source)
  • Ryan hesitated, trying to determine if his admission would in any way undermine their evaluation of his psychological soundness.†   (source)
  • Saphira had then pointed out, in the most diplomatic of terms, that if Nasuada asserted her authority as Eragon's liegelord and forbade him from participating in the sortie, it would poison their relationship with the sort of rancor and dissent that could undermine the Varden's cause.†   (source)
  • To deny women is to deprive a country of labor and talent, but--even worse--to undermine the drive to achievement of boys and men.†   (source)
  • The long blades of Spartina grass sliced our barelegs, and the marsh was undermined by the immensity of our herded, desperate weight.†   (source)
  • You let me know if I'm on the right track, and I hold off going out with anything that undermines your investigation.†   (source)
  • The indolence of the people was in contrast to the voracity of oblivion, which little by little was undermining memories in a pitiless way, to such an extreme that at that time, on another anniversary of the Treaty of Neerlandia, some emissaries from the president of the republic arrived in Macondo to award at last the decoration rejected several times by Colonel Aureliano Buendia, and they spent a whole afternoon looking for someone who could tell them where they could find one of his…†   (source)
  • …that his body and his consciousness are two enemies engaged in deadly conflict, two antagonists of opposite natures, contradictory claims, incompatible needs, that to benefit one is to injure the other, that his soul belongs to a supernatural realm, but his body is an evil prison holding it in bondage to this earth-and that the good is to defeat his body, to undermine it by years of patient struggle, digging his way to that glorious jail-break which leads into the freedom of the grave.†   (source)
  • I never sought to undermine Mr. de Klerk, for the practical reason that the weaker he was, the weaker the negotiations process.†   (source)
  • In addition, the knowledge that he had lost—and that, by all rights, he should be dead—undermined Eragon's confidence.†   (source)
  • And rape tends to undermine the victim groups' tribal structures, because leaders lose authority when they can't protect the women.†   (source)
  • As you'll see in my report, he has the capability of undermining security, a knowledge of videos, editing, and, of course, antique weapons."†   (source)
  • If your faith in the future has been undermined by vicious rumors, you may now see for yourself our happily united family of leadership!†   (source)
  • Knurlan will have heard echoes of your fight throughout the tunnels under Tronjheim, and even now, I know they will be searching for the source of the disturbance, for fear there may have been a cave-in or similar catastrophe that might undermine the city above.†   (source)
  • I was pleased, but well aware that they had taken this action while I was in Europe in order to undermine my call for sanctions.†   (source)
  • "Yes, sir," he said in a softer voice, but one dangerously strained and undermined by the pressure of his first two days.†   (source)
  • It was, Roran believed, a style of command that undermined a man's morale, as well as discouraged creativity and invention from those underneath you.†   (source)
  • It would be unwise to bandy it about, as people might take it to mean that he wanted you to succeed him, and that would undermine my authority and destabilize the Varden.†   (source)
  • There is also a legitimate concern that aid drives up the local exchange rate of African countries, undermining business competitiveness.†   (source)
  • She would be lonely and prey for people who sought to undermine her under the guise of being her friends.†   (source)
  • The scorched lawn of autumn took on a look of savage thirst, and even the parade ground, that most tended and pampered of meadows, had an undermined greenness about it.†   (source)
  • He knew it was foolish to wait, but he feared how the butcher would react when he learned that Roran and Katrina had flouted tradition and, in doing so, undermined Sloan's authority.†   (source)
  • Suddenly the injustices were impossible to look away from, at the same time that economic change was also undermining Jim Crow.†   (source)
  • The beach house was a three-story Victorian structure painted a dark and depressing gray and set thirty yards back from the groin protecting the undermined beach.†   (source)
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