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

The helicopter he was on, hired by Rasuwagadhi, was unable to land at the location of the project, which was a muddy wasteland.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Since the project was under construction, at least 1,400 people were on site across various fronts, more than 500 of whom are now missing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Navitas, which is listed in Tel Aviv, holds a 65% stake in Sea Lion, an offshore oil project set to start production in the North Falkland Basin in 2028.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

He added that he was overseeing a building project and that he "took the whole crew down there right after this happened."

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

“Mom, stop. She’s here to do a science project, not to shop.”

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Industry executives and advisers say the tax reversals could push future data center projects to states that retain favorable tax regimes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

As for Duncan Trevithick, he's doing his best to future proof himself with a number of side projects.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

It projects electricity consumption from these centres will double over five years to 2030.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Major construction projects can damage or destroy fossil deposits, but they can also expose layers of rock that scientists would otherwise have little chance of reaching with traditional excavation tools.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026

Once Zara decides to take on projects like this, she jumps in with both feet and doesn’t look back.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Models which projected relatively little warming struggled most to reproduce the observed rise in Earth's energy imbalance.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Recurring upgrades for chips, rather than construction, will drive most of its projected long-term capital investment, PwC said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The bridge over the Tumen river, which Russia said is designed to accommodate a projected growth in freight and passenger traffic, adds to the rail and air links between the neighbours.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Your CFP and/or a tax accountant should model your Roth conversions during those projected lower-income years, and whether it makes sense to take Social Security at 68, or wait until 70.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

After each man, she updates her relative ranking of her suitors and wonders what rule she should follow in order to maximize her chances of choosing the best of her projected N suitors.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

This is the view from downstream, looking up at the house and its welter of projecting terraces.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Its essence was its array of cantilevered terraces, set at right angles to one another and projecting deep out into space.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

In much the same way, Fallingwater’s projecting trays of space, which step up and outward, are a poetic paraphrase of what lies below, the stepped cascade that is nature’s own staircase.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

In the current quarter, Burlington expects adjusted earnings per share of $1.60 to $1.70, which would be below the $2.04 analysts are projecting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

The insects buzzed round his ears and suddenly a little cloud of flies flew up, disturbed from a projecting stone.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Related Words

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