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underscore

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From under- +‎ score.[1][2]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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underscore (plural underscores)

  1. A line drawn or printed beneath text; the character _.
    Synonyms: underline, low line
    • 2007, Richard D. Ondo, “Used Cars in West Virginia”, in A Third Cell in America: A Novel, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 15:
      He walks into the house and picks up a pen. The thought he has is a brilliant idea. He must write it down. Only two words need to be written. The underscore adds importance. / BOUNTY HUNTER
  2. (music) A piece of background music.

Translations

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Verb

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underscore (third-person singular simple present underscores, present participle underscoring, simple past and past participle underscored)

  1. (transitive) To underline; to mark a line beneath text.
    • 2011, Matt Aimonetti, MacRuby: The Definitive Guide: Ruby and Cocoa on OS X, page 14:
      By convention, Rubyists usually underscore their method names.
  2. (transitive) To emphasize or draw attention to.
    I wish to underscore the importance of proper formatting.
    • 1986, Richard Bauman, Story, Performance, and Event: Contextual Studies of Oral Narrative:
      The tale thus underscores in expressive form the semiparadoxical fact that traders can lie by telling the truth.
    • 2017 June 30, Ruth La Ferla, “In ‘The Beguiled,’ Pretty Confections Whipped Up to Seduce”, in The New York Times‎[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 October 2018:
      Not trusting filmgoers to catch the drift, Ms. Coppola underscores the women’s attempts to gussy up with snippets of arch dialogue.
    • 2023 October 31, Stephen Collinson, “A new wave of antisemitism threatens to rock an already unstable world”, in CNN‎[2], archived from the original on 12 August 2024:
      Biden on Monday unveiled new measures to tackle antisemitism on college campuses and senior officials underscored the need to combat anti-Jewish hate.

Translations

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Translations to be checked

See also

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Typography

References

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  1. ^ “underscore, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  2. ^ “underscore, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
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