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

"Pair density waves are the Cheshire Cat's grin of superconductivity," said Eduardo Fradkin, an Illinois Grainger Engineering physics professor and a project co-lead.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

Elon Musk and the chief executive officer of Intel on Wednesday pushed back against doubts over the technology group’s role in the trillionaire’s Terafab chip-making project.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

Saget was certainly a fan—when he died in 2022, he was four years into this project, which was completed by Neil Berkeley.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

"I do want the next project after this to be less on hard mode, or really it was nightmare mode, because we did so many things on hard mode at the same time," he reflects.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Or are we just classmates and project partners?

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

During her visit, she highlighted the number of projects with the potential to boost the economy.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Yorkshire Water said it was investigating further projects in Ripon as part of a £1.5bn investment programme aimed at reducing storm overflow use.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Based on the known pipeline of copper mine projects, the International Energy Agency forecasts that primary copper supply—excluding scrap—could be 25% lower than demand by 2035.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Two projects come to mind that I’m happy to share.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

All of the other Zanmi Lasante projects in the villages around Cange had been interrupted—its programs for women’s literacy, for vaccinating children, for sanitation and clean water, for distributing condoms and other AIDS-prevention measures.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Batters best at winning challenges didn’t necessarily produce at the plate: Jose Altuve topped all batters with 5.6 projected runs gained, followed by Seattle’s Cal Raleigh at 4.6.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Browning’s show was performed live while a camera crew shot different angles that were being projected on screens located on stage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

And if we subtract the S&P 500’s 1.08% dividend yield, we are left with projected FCF headroom of 2.26% for the S&P 500.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

Vaxcyte’s vaccine is projected to reach $4 billion in annual peak sales, though it is unlikely to launch before 2028, RBC says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

The spike of a helmet projected from the middle of his silken turban and he wore a shirt of chain mail.

From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis

Becerra finally unlocked the inner cholo so many of us have been waiting to see, instead of the Chicano Ned Flanders he’s been projecting for decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Quebec is among the hardest hit by the latest US tariffs, with experts at global forecasting firm Oxford Economics projecting a C$2bn blow for the province.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is projecting a more humble view after failing to jawbone the bond market.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

"He has broken down the brand's codes, projecting them into a new era," Pierre Groppo, fashion and lifestyle editor-in-chief at Vanity Fair, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Lord Asriel stood by the fire sipping the last of the coffee and watching darkly as Thorold opened the case of the projecting lantern and uncapped the lens before checking the oil tank.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

Related Words

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