Make up the base but not make up enough? (8)
I believe the answer is:
underlie
'make up' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with fundamental existence as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'base but not make up enough?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'base' could be 'e' (Euler's number - base of natural logarithms) and 'e' is found in the answer.
'not' could be 'un' (prefix meaning 'not') and 'un' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for underlie that I've seen before include "Form the base for" , "Prove to be base" , "Be situated below" , "Be the basis of" , "Be subject to" .)