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.

---

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

---

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 remains later disappeared from scholarly attention for many years before being identified again in the Egyptian Museum during a curation project in 2020.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

He said the project helped inmates have a "sense of purpose, achievement and connection to the community" which was "incredibly valuable".

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

Teams from China and India arrived in Nepal to help rescue hydropower project workers trapped in tunnels by mud.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

Julie McEnery, Roman's senior project scientist, said recent research suggests the way scientists have been thinking about the universe's early expansion, based on the predictions of existing models, may be wrong.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

The master wanted the same catch every day, despite this project and the fact that we were one hand short, so we had to wake up even earlier and work even later.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

Goldman Sachs projects it to grow to half a trillion dollars within the next few years.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

Nepal's government says more than 100 workers may still be trapped alive inside multiple tunnels at hydropower projects, with key rescue efforts focused on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites in a Himalayan valley.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

About 900 of the missing are workers from more than a dozen hydropower projects in operation or under construction, most of which appear to have been largely destroyed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

At the same time, it has tried to encourage home building in urban centers; projects that would add to suburban sprawl require stricter environmental reviews.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

I finally find the black shoes under my bed, behind a box full of my old art projects.

From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan

Better understanding may hold the key to resolving the current large uncertainty in the projected sea-level rise over the next couple of centuries.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

Roman was initially projected to come in over budget, but a significant course correction helped the telescope launch on budget and ahead of schedule.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

Russell says, even with projected population growth, if everyone in England knocked a minute off their shower time, for example, it would save nearly one billion litres of water a day by 2050.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

The company expects gross margins to fall from a projected 74% in its current quarter to about 71.5% in the following quarter because of memory prices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

She stands with her back straight and speaks with her voice projected.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

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

HP lifted its outlook for the full year, projecting adjusted earnings between $3.19 and $3.29 a share, including a 19 cent favorable impact from expected tariff refunds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Notice that seven of the nine are projecting that the S&P 500 will significantly lag inflation over the next decade, while an eighth is projecting a flat real return.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

They and other Arab governments, though threatened by Iran, appear incapable of projecting unity or conviction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Piano chords loll in the speaker of the wireless in the guard station, projecting rich blacks and complicated blues down the hall toward the key pound.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Related Words

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