undertake
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to take upon oneself, as a task, performance, etc.; attempt.
She undertook the job of answering all the mail.
-
to promise, agree, or obligate oneself (followed by an infinitive).
The married couple undertook to love, honor, and cherish each other.
-
to warrant or guarantee (followed by a clause).
The sponsors undertake that their candidate meets all the requirements.
-
to take in charge; assume the duty of attending to.
The lawyer undertook a new case.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(tr) to contract to or commit oneself to (something) or (to do something)
to undertake a job
to undertake to deliver the goods
-
(tr) to attempt to; agree to start
-
(tr) to take (someone) in charge
-
archaic to make oneself responsible (for)
-
(tr) to promise
Other Word Forms
- preundertake verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of undertake
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English undertaken; under-, take
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activities," a White House memo to agencies said.
From BBC
It is also the “costliest project being undertaken by a regulated utility in the United States.”
Representation limits this tension by claiming that acts undertaken with the consent of the governed are really their own decisions.
"When you pair these traits with a landscape that is very rural and difficult to traverse, researching them becomes quite the undertaking," he says.
From Science Daily
"We had two key motivations for undertaking this study," said Dr. Zoë Jewell of Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, co-author of the article in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
