Showing results for "undertaking"

• present participle of undertake.

undertaking

American  

[uhn-der-tay-king, uhn-der-tay-, uhn-der-tay-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

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Etymology

Origin of undertaking

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

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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

Bushby has consistently denied this is a spiritual undertaking; a journey of discovery.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

Evans also has a biotech start-up, Haemanthus, which is developing laser-based technology to analyze biological samples, an undertaking with echoes of Holmes’ failed blood-testing company.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

The commenter had spent considerable time walking delivery workers through specialty aisles and negotiating alternatives, an especially frustrating undertaking when dietary restrictions were involved.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026

"Reconstructing the lives of extinct life forms in a scientifically rigorous way, as opposed to just telling stories, is a precise and delicate undertaking," said Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, senior author of the study.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026

But he said he would refer it to his staff for study to see if it was worth undertaking a year from then.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

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

That discovery excited him much more than any of his other harebrained undertakings.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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Related Words

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

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