What's the difference between bolster and undermine?

Bolster


Definition:

  • (n.) A long pillow or cushion, used to support the head of a person lying on a bed; -- generally laid under the pillows.
  • (n.) A pad, quilt, or anything used to hinder pressure, support any part of the body, or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part; a compress.
  • (n.) Anything arranged to act as a support, as in various forms of mechanism, etc.
  • (n.) A cushioned or a piece part of a saddle.
  • (n.) A cushioned or a piece of soft wood covered with tarred canvas, placed on the trestletrees and against the mast, for the collars of the shrouds to rest on, to prevent chafing.
  • (n.) Anything used to prevent chafing.
  • (n.) A plate of iron or a mass of wood under the end of a bridge girder, to keep the girder from resting directly on the abutment.
  • (n.) A transverse bar above the axle of a wagon, on which the bed or body rests.
  • (n.) The crossbeam forming the bearing piece of the body of a railway car; the central and principal cross beam of a car truck.
  • (n.) the perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.
  • (n.) That part of a knife blade which abuts upon the end of the handle.
  • (n.) The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.
  • (n.) The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.
  • (n.) A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.
  • (v. t.) To support with a bolster or pillow.
  • (v. t.) To support, hold up, or maintain with difficulty or unusual effort; -- often with up.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) His senior role in the Popalzai tribe and his chairmanship since 2005 of Kandahar provincial council bolstered his reputation as an Asian version of a mafia don.
  • (2) And if the Brexit vote was somehow not respected by Westminster, Le Pen could be bolstered in her outrage.
  • (3) • Mubarak becomes a major mediator in the Arab-Israeli peace process, remaining a consistent US ally bolstered by billions of dollars in American aid.
  • (4) The AP reports: The incremental assistance would be aimed both at bolstering the Ukrainian military as it seeks to halt the advances of pro-Russian forces in the east, as well as showing symbolic U.S. support for Ukraine's efforts.
  • (5) Clegg went on: "Unless there's overwhelming evidence that this [campaign] is a really effective way of bolstering public confidence in the immigration system, and bearing down on illegal behaviour in the immigration system, I'm going to need a lot of persuasion this is something [we want to continue]."
  • (6) A description of sleeping arrangements of the Kung San people of the Kalahari desert; speculations of the need for arousability in primitive society to prevent predators from attacking serve to bolster the view point.
  • (7) The survey was conducted at the end of a year in which Chinese growth had slowed and the eurozone stagnated, raising expectations that Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank will try to bolster the eurozone by starting QE on Thursday .
  • (8) The link between IUD use and pelvic inflammatory disease is bolstered by data showing a 3-fold increase in salpingitis in IUD users compared with women in general.
  • (9) Downing Street was irritated when Michael Gove bolstered Eurosceptics on Sunday, the day of Cameron's departure for the US, by saying he would vote to leave the EU if a referendum were held now.
  • (10) Jinsa describes its mandate as two-fold: "To educate the American public about the importance of an effective US defence capability...and to inform the American defence and foreign affairs community about the important role Israel can and does play in bolstering democratic interests in the Mediterranean and the Middle East."
  • (11) At the request of the state governor, the interim president, Michel Temer, has authorized 1,000 soldiers and 200 marines to bolster security.
  • (12) Jared Genser Germany went public with its anger about Beijing’s handling of Liu’s case on Monday, accusing Chinese security services of leaking surveillance footage of Liu being visited by a German doctor in order to bolster a propaganda campaign pushing the idea that the dissident was too ill to be evacuated from China.
  • (13) The Bank of England sends a clear message to banks today to cut staff bonuses and share dividends so that they can bolster their capital cushions while maintaining lending to businesses and households.
  • (14) In a review published on Thursday, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (Icai) says the Department for International Development (DfID) has failed to turn rhetoric about how bolstering the private sector can help end global poverty into a realistic, well-balanced and joined-up portfolio of programmes.
  • (15) It would also bolster the image of the Socialist president, François Hollande , as a social reformer after a hotly contested move to legalise gay marriage in 2012.
  • (16) For months, Tom McCarthy’s journalistic thriller Spotlight has been at the head of the pack – further bolstered by its recent Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations.
  • (17) Primark’s heady pace of expansion has bolstered ABF, which is grappling with lower sugar prices that have reduced profits in its core business.
  • (18) He would have liked to spend the summer bolstering his case for a critical autumn referendum on constitutional reforms he supports, but instead he has been forced to grapple with the banking issues.
  • (19) The salience of immigration is reinforced by a separate question in which "curbing immigration" comes top of varied populist policies as the "single action politicians could take to bolster your faith in politics", with 26% picking that priority, as against 19% who prefer tax cuts and 15% who prioritise a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.
  • (20) Criticism that Africa is allowing its natural resources to be exploited, and that China is content to bolster dictators and ignore human rights abuses, merely feeds the partners' anti-western sentiment.

Undermine


Definition:

  • (v. t.) 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.
  • (v. t.) 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.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Their efforts will include blocking the NSA from undermining encryption and barring other law enforcement agencies from collecting US data in bulk.
  • (2) And any Labour commitment on spending is fatally undermined by their deficit amnesia.” Davey widened the attack on the Tories, following a public row this week between Clegg and Theresa May over the “snooper’s charter”, by accusing his cabinet colleague Eric Pickles of coming close to abusing his powers by blocking new onshore developments against the wishes of some local councils.
  • (3) Chadwick felt that Customs and Trading Standards needed to continue their war on illegal tobacco – if not, efforts to tackle smoking could be undermined.
  • (4) But for decades now there has been a systematic undermining of it [the NHS’s] core values.
  • (5) The government also faced considerable international political pressure, with the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture, Juan Méndez, calling publicly on the government to "provide full redress to the victims, including fair and adequate compensation", and writing privately to David Cameron, along with two former special rapporteurs, to warn that the government's position was undermining its moral authority across the world.
  • (6) Like the doctor who makes a decision to operate without consulting the patient, I’m diminishing your autonomy by undermining it.
  • (7) There, the US Joint Commission, an independent, non-profit organisation that accredits healthcare organisations and programmes has issued a standard on “behaviours that undermine a culture of safety” to tackle “intimidating and disruptive behaviour at work”.
  • (8) Group B meningococcal vaccine consisting of the natural complex of specific polysaccharide and outer membrane protein (OMP) has been shown to be moderately reactogenic, safe with respect to the effect of undermining tolerance to human brain tissue antigens and to produce no allergization of humans.
  • (9) The end of the cold war and a reshaping of the threats faced by the UK had undermined the logic of nuclear deterrence strategy, he said.
  • (10) Then Greece has another chance.” But the intervention by the IMF will undermine EU leaders who argue Greece must submit to a fresh round of austerity measures to release funds for debt repayments.
  • (11) Entitled Jobs, Justice and Equity, the report warned that growing inequality, marginalisation and disenfranchisement are threatening Africa's prospects and undermining the foundations of its recent success.
  • (12) Umunna said: "Where you have pay awards that bear no relation to performance, but also can be beyond what a company can sustain, it really undermines trust in the whole system.
  • (13) The home team's defence had been undermined by naivety and it was in evidence when Stepanov, already on a yellow card for a foul on McGeady and having been played into trouble, lunged for the ball only to be beaten to it by Keane.
  • (14) The home secretary has been concerned that British involvement in the UN refugee programme would become an open-ended commitment that risked undermining the Tories' commitment to reduce net migration to the UK to tens of thousands by 2015.
  • (15) The Public Accounts committee (PAC) said on Thursday that the "chaos" surrounding the failure of G4S to provide enough staff for the Olympics had undermined confidence in Games organisers.
  • (16) Moreover, uncertainty about the resolution of these fiscal issues could itself undermine business and household confidence," said Bernanke.
  • (17) The clashes between the moralistic Levin and his friend Oblonsky, sometimes affectionate, sometimes angry, and Levin's linkage of modernity to Oblonsky's attitudes – that social mores are to be worked around and subordinated to pleasure, that families are base camps for off-base nooky – undermine one possible reading of Anna Karenina , in which Anna is a martyr in the struggle for the modern sexual freedoms that we take for granted, taken down by the hypocritical conservative elite to which she, her lover and her husband belong.
  • (18) James Cleverly, MP for Braintree, who supported Johnson’s aborted leadership bid before backing May, said joking about him risked undermining the foreign secretary.
  • (19) These effects of governmental restrictions on abortion do indeed interfere with the obstetrician's basic goal of providing optimal care for the patient and undermine their efforts to improve maternal and infant health.
  • (20) Poor crossing undermined Liverpool in the first leg, Klopp had claimed, but the flaw was remedied quickly in the return.