project

American  

[proj-ekt, -ikt, pruh-jekt] / ˈprɒdʒ ɛkt, -ɪkt, prəˈdʒɛkt /

noun

• projects
  plural

1. something that is contemplated, devised, or planned; plan; scheme.

   I have several little projects around the house that I’d like to tackle in my time off.

   Synonyms:

   proposal

2. a large or major undertaking, especially one involving considerable money, personnel, and equipment.

   The city is undertaking several public works projects to modernize and upgrade infrastructure.

3. a specific task of investigation, especially in scholarship.

   Federal funding supports some cancer-related projects while other research is sustained by private grants.

4. Education. a supplementary, long-term educational assignment necessitating personal initiative, undertaken by an individual student or a group of students.

   For my literature class project, I wrote an original rock opera and performed one song from it.

5. Informal. the projects, a housing project, typically one constructed as a development of high-rise towers with apartments for low-income residents, especially in the second half of the 20th century.

   Back in those days, the projects were no place to raise a family.

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verb (used with object)

• projects,
  present (3rd person singular)
• projected,
  past participle,  past
• projecting
  present participle

1. to propose, contemplate, or plan.

   Synonyms:

   devise, plot, scheme, contrive

2. to throw, cast, or impel forward or onward.

3. to set forth or calculate (some future thing).

   They projected the building costs for the next five years.

   Synonyms:

   predict

4. to throw or cause to fall upon a surface or into space, as a ray of light or a shadow.

5. to cause (a figure or image) to appear, as on a background.

6. to regard (something within the mind, as a feeling, thought, or attitude) as having some form of reality outside the mind.

   He projected a thrilling picture of the party's future.

7. to cause to jut out or protrude.

8. Geometry.

   1. to throw forward an image of (a figure or the like) by straight lines or rays, either parallel, converging, or diverging, that pass through all its points and reproduce it on another surface or figure.

   2. to transform the points (of one figure) into those of another by a correspondence between points.

9. to present (an idea, program, etc.) for consideration or action.

   They made every effort to project the notion of world peace.

10. to use (one's voice, gestures, etc.) forcefully enough to be perceived at a distance, as by all members of the audience in a theater.

11. to communicate clearly and forcefully (one's thoughts, personality, role, etc.) to an audience, as in a theatrical performance; produce a compelling image of.

12. to cause (the voice) to appear to come from a source other than oneself, as in ventriloquism; throw.

verb (used without object)

• projects,
  present (3rd person singular)
• projected,
  past participle,  past
• projecting
  present participle

1. to extend or protrude beyond something else.

   Synonyms:

   overhang, obtrude, bulge

2. to use one's voice forcefully enough to be heard at a distance, as in a theater.

3. to produce a clear impression of one's thoughts, personality, role, etc., in an audience; communicate clearly and forcefully.

4. Psychology. to ascribe one's own feelings, thoughts, or attitudes to others.

project British  

noun

1. a proposal, scheme, or design

2. 1. a task requiring considerable or concerted effort, such as one by students

   2. the subject of such a task

3. short for housing project

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verb

1. (tr) to propose or plan

2. (tr) to predict; estimate; extrapolate

   we can project future needs on the basis of the current birth rate

3. (tr) to throw or cast forwards

4. to jut or cause to jut out

5. (tr) to send forth or transport in the imagination

   to project oneself into the future

6. (tr) to cause (an image) to appear on a surface

7. to cause (one's voice) to be heard clearly at a distance

8. psychol

   1. (intr) (esp of a child) to believe that others share one's subjective mental life

   2. to impute to others (one's hidden desires and impulses), esp as a means of defending oneself Compare introject

9. (tr) geometry to draw a projection of

10. (intr) to communicate effectively, esp to a large gathering

Synonym Usage

See plan.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• counterproject
  noun
• subproject
  noun
• reproject
  verb
• nonprojecting
  adjective
• projectable
  adjective
• unprojected
  adjective
• unprojecting
  adjective
• projectingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• projects
  plural

Participles

• projecting
  present
• projected
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• project
  simple
• projects
  simple
• have projected
  perfect
• has projected
  perfect
• am projecting
  progressive
• are projecting
  progressive
• is projecting
  progressive
• have been projecting
  perfect progressive
• has been projecting
  perfect progressive

Past

• projected
  simple
• had projected
  perfect
• was projecting
  progressive
• were projecting
  progressive
• had been projecting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will project
  simple
• will have projected
  perfect
• will be projecting
  progressive
• will have been projecting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of project

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun project(e) “design, plan,” from Medieval Latin prōjectum, Latin: “projecting part,” noun use of neuter of Latin prōjectus, past participle of prōicere “to throw forward, extend,” equivalent to prō- pro- ¹ + -icere, combining form of jacere “to throw”

Explanation

A project is a piece of work that is planned or intended. Plan a little extra time for your gingerbread house project — gluing the walls and roof can take a while. If you call a person your project, pronounced PRAH-jekt, it means you are trying to improve them by telling them how to behave, etc. As a verb, pronounced pro-JEKT, it means to jut out literally — The fireplace projects into the dining room — or figuratively — Try to project your ideas forcefully. If you assume another person is feeling the same things you are, you are projecting your feelings onto them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

project projects projected projecting

And in Warrenton, Mo., where the firm has a project under development, it decided to cover admission for spectators at football games this season.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

For Gibson, seeing the research move from laboratory experiments into human trials has given the project a deeply personal dimension.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

The train project is years beyond its proposed deadline to connect the state via high-speed rail and more than $100 billion over its original $33-billion budget.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

The meeting will also give Trump the chance to project statesmanship while hosting a high-stakes diplomatic engagement at the White House -- Xi's first visit to the US capital in 11 years.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

Enough energy and potential for us to develop them into a short story, a personal essay, or a poem for our final project.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

YTL Power and Ganda Power have now reserved seven SGT-9000HL units, supporting potential projects in Malaysia and the region with combined capacity of about 5.25GW.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

On Thursday, Modi remotely opened commercial production for two sites, taking the number of semiconductor projects in commercial production in India to five.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

The new monopoles will be used on the firm's Towy Usk, external and Towy Teifi, external projects - as part of a "toolkit" which also includes wood poles, underground cables and traditional pylons.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

The World Bank makes loans to support infrastructure, business development and other projects in developing countries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

By then I was already working on top-secret projects.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Zillow economists once projected 4.3% growth in home sales for 2026.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan performed a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as images of actors, writers, directors and other industry figures who died this year were projected onto the stage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

When you die, you’d be projected to have about $44,000 left — not nothing, but not as much of a legacy.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

New features for TV audiences attempted to enhance the viewer experience, with athlete headshots, win probabilities and projected finishing positions flashing up on screen.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

It was a large, clumsy unbeautiful robot, smelling of machine-oil and destined for the projected mines on Mercury.—But it could speak and make sense.

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

The figure was below the 4.1% growth analysts were projecting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The firm is projecting that PC prices will be up 20% this year and continue growing modestly in 2027, and that shipments will keep falling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Same-store sales dropped 9%, while Wall Street was projecting a 4.6% decline.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

They also anticipate the lender’s earnings growth momentum to continue, projecting a 4.4% compound annual growth rate for profit over 2025-2028.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

She was worried that there might not be as many vacant publicars in the Chilargentine Region, especially this remote an area, but the Thunderhead was remarkable at projecting local need.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Related Words

• activity
• business
• deal
• design
• enterprise
• job
• plan
• program
• proposal
• scheme
• strategy
• task
• venture