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

Etymology

Origin of undertaking

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

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

For at least a year her life "revolved" around trying to recover from their relationship, and she says managing the impact on her mental health will be a lifelong undertaking.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Though I’d say we’ve reached a point where that undertaking is worthwhile.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

Given Mr. Dimon’s track record of persuasiveness, he could engage his fellow business leaders to support a nonpartisan undertaking like this.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

"It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of the sovereign, and are no longer working members of the royal family," it said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

“No —” said Harry quickly; he had not counted on this, he had meant them to understand that he was undertaking this most dangerous journey alone.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

The undertakings in Qatar and Romania appear to be new developments in 2025, as there aren’t references to them in Trump’s annual financial disclosure for 2024.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

In some ways, the nature of our undertakings is similar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 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

He added that there were "quite a few interesting and useful undertakings" on the agenda of their talks, and that Russia stood ready to "do everything to fulfil them".

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2025

It is not merely the young, of course, who are drawn to haz-ardous undertakings.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

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