Showing results for "undertaking"

• present participle of undertake.

undertaking

American  

[uhn-der-tey-king, uhn-der-tey-, uhn-der-tey-king] / ˌʌn dərˈteɪ kɪŋ, ˈʌn dərˌteɪ-, ˈʌn dərˌteɪ kɪŋ /

noun

• undertakings
  plural

1. the act of a person who undertakes any task or responsibility.

2. a task, enterprise, etc., undertaken.

   Synonyms:

   venture, effort, job, endeavor, project

3. a promise; pledge; guarantee.

4. the business of an undertaker or funeral director.

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undertaking British  

/ ˈʌndəˌteɪkɪŋ /

noun

1. something undertaken; task, venture, or enterprise

2. an agreement to do something

3. the business of an undertaker

4. informal the practice of overtaking on an inner lane a vehicle which is travelling in an outer lane

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• undertakings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of undertaking

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at under, taking

Explanation

Painting a house is a serious undertaking––it looks simple but involves a lot of preparation and hard work. An undertaking is a job or a task you commit to. The word also can mean the profession of funeral management. When you take something under consideration, it means you're not necessarily going to do it, you're just going to think about it. When you take something on, you've undertaken to actually do it. The word undertaking suggests something that involves quite a bit of work. Organizing an Oxfam hunger-day at your school is a significant undertaking, but it's worth all the effort.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

undertaking undertakings

The federal government considers Johnson Tract a “critical metals” undertaking because, alongside gold, the ore contains important industrial metals like zinc and copper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The Takaichi administration is undertaking a major update of the national defence strategy this year in the face of China's expanding military ambitions.

From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026

The only comparable alternative would involve sending spacecraft directly to another star, an undertaking that would require enormous amounts of time and money.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

It should have been a relatively straightforward undertaking to navigate from the area where Goforth was riding to the spot where the vehicle was parked, especially for someone familiar with the area, Buelna added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Competitive rowing is an undertaking of extraordinary beauty preceded by brutal punishment.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

But many cannot survive in the true wild, where large-scale predator control remains an endless battle, and are instead sent to fenced nature reserves, themselves high-maintenance undertakings facing problems like in-breeding and overpopulation.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

In some ways, the nature of our undertakings is similar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

They need to be able to talk with customers, assess the ethics of new undertakings and prototype projects with a design-oriented mindset.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 11, 2026

"Recent decisions were bound by certain undertakings and my resignation enables the Adelaide Festival, as an organisation, to refresh its leadership and its approach to these circumstances," she said.

From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026

I think Mr. Hofacket would have stood there all day and drunk in the praise he’d earned during this strangest of undertakings.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

Related Words

• affair
• effort
• enterprise
• experiment
• operation
• project
• proposition
• task
• venture