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 court documents relating to the Anthropic case revealed the project of ingesting old books was referred to in internal company communications as "Project Panama."

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

In 2020, the lab embarked on training a chatbot dubbed “Gopher,” purposely keeping the project secret from Google Brain.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

For three seasons, Clark has been the perfect vessel for this project.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

OpenAI is still in discussions to sign a binding lease for 10 gigawatts of the project in the coming days, according to two people familiar with the project.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Then he backs toward his drafting table, sweeping away his half-finished school project to reveal a blank page and picking up a pencil.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Kinder rejects criticism that aid agencies have had to compromise on principles to keep their projects in place.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

He used his popularity not to jump into Hollywood projects but to resurrect “Tires.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Several of the projects have similarly faced legal challenges, but the ballroom project is the first to reach the Supreme Court.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

“It’s important to note that the vast majority of the time, the Coastal Commission doesn’t actually object to projects, but when they do, it’s warranted,” said Hall, of the Environmental Defense Center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

It was hoped the project would be a model for similar projects in Haiti’s eight other departments and in other chronically poor countries.

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

Unified are painful cuts, including the possibility of more than 6,000 job losses, needed to offset a future deficit projected to reach as much as $3.6 billion if the cuts are not made.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Core operating margins are projected between negative 17% and negative 19%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The prospect was much dimmer for next year, with just 0.3% growth projected - much lower than the OBR's 1.6% forecast for 2027.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Lumentum’s adjusted gross margin came in at 50.4%, exceeding the 48% that analysts had projected.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

Ella had seen her face projected from the Marvellian news-boxes in Papa's office.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

How we dress is all about projecting a story.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

With China at the forefront, coast guards are evolving into tools for projecting power in the Western Pacific, marking territory and deterring rivals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Revenue amounted to $575 million, above the $570 million that analysts tracked by FactSet had been projecting.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

He suggested they would continue "projecting that love" to the world.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Ama responds, projecting her voice so we can hear a little better.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Related Words

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