underline
verb /ʌndəˈlʌɪn 
/ [with object]
/ [with object]1Draw a line under (a word or phrase) to give emphasis or indicate special type: certain phrases had been underlined...
- Copy the articles or excerpts by hand underlining those words and phrases that you think are significant in the creation of mood and/or atmosphere.
- Please indicate italics by underlining and indicate boldface by drawing a wavy line beneath the affected characters.
- For some that meant moving from writing each idea on a separate line to using headers and underlining vocabulary words.
Synonyms
underscore, mark, pick out, emphasize, highlight;
italicize
1.1Emphasize (something): the improvement in retail sales was underlined by these figures...
- Nevertheless, the sale seemed to underline their minor status.
- The television figures underline the sustained popularity of the annual broadcasts from the festival and this year's programme attracted over 56 per cent of the Irish audience at its peak.
- These figures underline the fact that we are in the great boom in advertising for years, much greater than anything seen in 1999-2000.
Synonyms
emphasize, give emphasis to, stress, put/lay stress on, highlight, accentuate, accent, call/draw attention to, focus (attention) on, zero in on, spotlight, throw into relief, give prominence to, bring to the fore, foreground, bring home, point up, play up, make a feature of
informal rub in
noun /ˈʌndəlʌɪn /
/1A line drawn under a word or phrase, especially for emphasis: sub-headings have an underline in blue...
- That last sentence has a green underline on my word processor, and when I right click to see what grammatical snafu I've made, it says ‘Wordiness.’
- Take this familiar experience: spell a word wrongly in your word processor and you see a wavy red underline appear under the word.
- I don't think the problem is the color, the problem is the highlighting as opposed to an underline.
2The line of the lower part of an animal’s body: she has a white tail and underline
