undo

[uhn-doo]

verb (used with object)

undid, undone, undoing. 

1. to reverse the doing of; cause to be as if never done.

   Murder once done can never be undone.

2. to do away with; erase; efface.

   to undo the havoc done by the storm.

3. to bring to ruin or disaster; destroy.

   In the end his lies undid him.

4. to unfasten by releasing.

   to undo a gate; to undo a button.

5. to untie or loose (a knot, rope, etc.).

6. to open (a package, wrapping, etc.).

7. Archaic.,  to explain; interpret.

undo

/ ʌnˈduː /

verb

1. (also intr) to untie, unwrap, or open or become untied, unwrapped, etc

2. to reverse the effects of

3. to cause the downfall of

4. obsolete,  to explain or solve

Other Word Forms

• undoable adjective
• undoer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of undo¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English undōn; cognate with Dutch ontdoen; un- ², do ¹

Example Sentences

Those were her exact words, and it was the exact words of the curse upon the Ashtons that the fortune.teller had to know in order to undo it—or attempt to, at least.

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She undid the rough iron latch with trembling fingers.

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Penelope undid the latch and flung open the windows more widely than before.

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Overcome with joy, she tossed armfuls of mail into the air until the room was buried in a blizzard of paper, thus undoing Penelope’s efforts to keep everything in order.

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Inheritances can’t undo the past, but I also understand that this feels like an important battle for you in what you see as a long-term pattern.

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Related Words

• abolish 
• annul 
• destroy 
• mar 
• negate 
• offset 
• overturn 
• quash 
• reverse 
• ruin 
• shatter 
• spoil 
• subvert 
• undermine 
• wipe out 
• wreck