underscore

From under- +‎ score.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈʌn.də(ɹ)ˌskɔː(ɹ)/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

underscore (plural underscores)

1. An underline; a line drawn or printed beneath text; the character _.
2. (music) A piece of background music.

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

1. 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. 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.

• underbar

Typography