0 If a bank or other organization underwrites an activity, it gives it financial support and takes responsibility for paying any costs if it fails.
1 to support something that costs money by promising to pay for it, or by promising to pay if necessary to protect others who are risking their money:
The museum show was largely underwritten by a grant from the government of Sweden.
2 to give an activity financial support and take responsibility for paying any costs if it fails:
Many businesses have underwritten the event.
He underwrote a friend's development company in New York.
3 if a company underwrites an insurance policy or someone's property, it agrees to pay out money in cases of damage, loss, etc.:
4 if a financial organization underwrites new shares when they are offered for sale, it agrees to buy any shares that are not sold:
More important than those advantages is the fact that a single currency underwrites a single market.
The taxpayer, rather than future employees or employers, is underwriting the fund, because we want to give the pensioners a fair deal.
Before privatisation, it was the taxpayer who inevitably underwrote investment.
We are therefore proposing that these expenses should be underwritten from public funds to the extent that the debtor's assets are insufficient to meet them.
There is no intention to require insurance companies to research their records of business written by underwriting agents for years back.
In a sense, we are underwriting agreements that may be entered into but which we may never be called upon to meet.
Until something like that happens, there is no point in underpinning or underwriting the present chaos and inefficiency.
They made a contribution but were not called upon to fulfil the complete guarantee that they had underwritten.
