Showing results for "undertaking"

• present participle of undertake.

undertaking

American  

[uhn-der-tey-king, uhn-der-tey-, uhn-der-tey-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.

---

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

---

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

But the specialist publication Research Professional News reports that there will still be significant cutbacks in research, because of the greater cost increases of undertaking particle physics and astronomy research.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Transforming an office tower into residences is a complex undertaking, one that often requires feats of engineering and newly devised architectural hacks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

The county is also undertaking efforts to reduce vegetation on untamed land beyond the suburban streets of Altadena and Sunset Mesa.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

"The Review found evidence of recurring examples of failure to protect the dignity of the deceased… including inadequate arrangements for undertaking paediatric post-mortems," Ockenden said in her report.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

I ain’t sure who or what dug out such a large space, but it must’ve been a pretty impressive undertaking.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

As hotels benefit from the exposure, film-crew takeovers can be logistically complicated undertakings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 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

While customers were still taking on smaller renovation projects, they were staying away from bigger undertakings like kitchen and bath remodels, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 18, 2025

A CMA-approved monitor will also oversee undertakings to maintain Redrow's build quality and service, on the Kingsbourne site in Nantwich.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2024

In fact, there are three quite different levels of technology in medicine, so unlike each other as to seem altogether different undertakings.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Related Words

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