task

American  

[task, tahsk] / tæsk, tɑsk /

noun

• tasks
  plural

1. a definite piece of work assigned to, falling to, or expected of a person; duty.

   Synonyms:

   assignment, job

2. any piece of work.

   Synonyms:

   assignment, job

3. a matter of considerable labor or difficulty.

4. Obsolete. a tax or impost.

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verb (used with object)

• tasks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tasked,
  past participle,  past
• tasking
  present participle

1. to subject to severe or excessive labor or exertion; put a strain upon (powers, resources, etc.).

2. to impose a task on.

3. Obsolete. to tax.

adjective

1. of or relating to a task or tasks.

   A task chart will help organize the department's work.

idioms

1. take to task, to call to account; blame; censure.

   The teacher took them to task for not doing their homework.

task British  

/ tɑːsk /

noun

1. a specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or chore

2. an unpleasant or difficult job or duty

3. any piece of work

4. to criticize or reprove

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verb

1. to assign a task to

2. to subject to severe strain; tax

task More Idioms  

1. see take to task.

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Synonym Usage

Task, chore, job, assignment refer to a definite and specific instance or act of work. Task and chore and, to a lesser extent, job often imply work that is tiresome, arduous, or otherwise unpleasant. Task usually refers to a clearly defined piece of work, sometimes of short or limited duration, assigned to or expected of a person: the task of pacifying angry customers; a difficult, time-consuming task. A chore is a minor task, usually one of several performed as part of a routine, as in farming, and often more tedious than difficult: the daily chore of taking out the garbage; early morning chores of feeding the livestock. Job is the most general of these terms, referring to almost any work or responsibility, including a person's means of earning a living: the job of washing the windows; a well-paying job in advertising. Assignment refers to a specific task allocated to a person by someone in a position of authority: a homework assignment; a reporter's assignment to cover international news.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subtask
  noun
• tasker
  noun
• taskless
  adjective
• untasked
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tasks
  plural

Participles

• tasking
  present
• tasked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• task
  simple
• tasks
  simple
• have tasked
  perfect
• has tasked
  perfect
• am tasking
  progressive
• are tasking
  progressive
• is tasking
  progressive
• have been tasking
  perfect progressive
• has been tasking
  perfect progressive

Past

• tasked
  simple
• had tasked
  perfect
• was tasking
  progressive
• were tasking
  progressive
• had been tasking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will task
  simple
• will have tasked
  perfect
• will be tasking
  progressive
• will have been tasking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of task

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English noun, from Medieval Latin tasca, variant of taxa tax ( def. )

Explanation

A task can be big or small, easy or really hard — but it's never more than a job that needs to get done. Chop chop! There's a task that needs completing, and you're just the person for the job. If you're smart though, you'll figure out a way to task someone else with it, or assign it elsewhere. Task comes to us all the way from the Latin word taxare, which in its earliest days meant "to impose a tax on." So much like the filling out of your tax forms, most tasks are considered chores.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

task tasks tasked tasking

There are lyric sheets involved, and some players are laughing as if struggling with a task set by a self-proclaimed comedy best man at a wedding.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Importantly, you should master each task or level of difficulty before advancing.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

“The HSI task force has been disjointed and disorganized,” Teirab wrote.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

A CEO’s most important task is simply making sure the business survives, he said, noting the challenges of the current era: trade wars and disrupted supplies of energy and chips.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

The task of removing the family curse remained in the spooky hands of Madame Ionesco, but first things first.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Ukrainian forces use land drones to perform some of the most dangerous tasks on the battlefield.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

The researchers analyzed nine newly collected decision-making tasks along with six previously published data sets involving more than 700 participants.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026

In a blog post, SpaceX said the new model was designed with a focus on long-running AI agents and complex tasks.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

Using ChatGPT or Claude today for tasks such as analyzing legal documents or going through your email inbox means sharing sensitive data with the company servers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Mired in low-level tasks, Elizebeth must have longed to do something more to help win the war—especially since her own children were headed into harm’s way.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

A liaison officer was tasked with coordinating the aerial resources "to prevent accidents," she said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Google DeepMind was tasked with accelerating the company’s AI progress.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Thirteen years later, the self-proclaimed 'Special One' is back at the Bernabeu, tasked with restoring a club that has had two successive seasons without a trophy.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

With Herbert being tasked this season with getting rid of the ball quicker, receivers are being tasked with finding ways of getting open sooner.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

T. Arnold Hill was tasked with leading the new Chicago branch of the National Urban League.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

OpenAI recently hired Denise Dresser, the former Slack CEO, as chief revenue officer, tasking her with growing sales among large businesses looking to adopt AI tools in their workforces.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Manchester United confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season on Tuesday, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the Champions League.

From Barron's ● Jan. 13, 2026

Google is acquiring Intersect’s workforce and gigawatts of active joint projects, while tasking the company with developing new technologies to expand the energy supply for U.S. data centers.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 22, 2025

The US and South Korea accuse North Korea of tasking thousands of staff to take on multiple well-paid western roles remotely to earn money for the regime and avoid sanctions.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2024

I never took so serious a view of so commonplace an unpleasantness, as to dream of tasking your kindness so severely.

From Checkmate by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Related Words

• assignment
• burden
• business
• duty
• effort
• exercise
• function
• project
• responsibility
• undertaking
• work