Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Undertake
Unˊder-take′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Undertook
; p. p.
Undertaken
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Undertaking
.] [
Under
+ take
.] 1.
To take upon one’s self; to engage in; to enter upon; to take in hand; to begin to perform; to set about; to attempt.
To second, or oppose, or
The perilous attempt.
undertake
The perilous attempt.
Milton.
2.
Specifically, to take upon one's self solemnly or expressly; to lay one's self under obligation, or to enter into stipulations, to perform or to execute; to covenant; to contract.
I 'll
undertake
to land them on our coast. Shakespeare
3.
Hence, to guarantee; to promise; to affirm.
And he was not right fat, I
undertake
. Dryden.
And those two counties I will
Your grace shall well and quietly enjoiy.
undertake
Your grace shall well and quietly enjoiy.
Shakespeare
I dare
undertake
they will not lose their labor. Woodward.
4.
To assume, as a character.
[Obs.]
Shak.
5.
To engage with; to attack.
[Obs.]
It is not fit your lordship should
undertake
every companion that you give offense to. Shakespeare
6.
To have knowledge of; to hear.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
7.
To take or have the charge of.
[Obs.]
“Who undertakes you to your end.” Shak.
Keep well those that ye
undertake
. Chaucer.
Unˊder-take′
,Verb.
I.
1.
To take upon one's self, or assume, any business, duty, or province.
O Lord, I am oppressed;
undertake
for me. Isa. xxxviii. 14.
2.
To venture; to hazard.
[Obs.]
It is the cowish terror of his spirit
That dare not
That dare not
undertake
. Shakespeare
3.
To give a promise or guarantee; to be surety.
But on mine honor dare I
For good lord Titus' innocence in all.
undertake
For good lord Titus' innocence in all.
Shakespeare
Webster 1828 Edition
Undertake
UNDERTA'KE
,Verb.
T.
1.
To engage in; to enter upon; to take in hand; to begin to perform. When I undertook this work, I had a very inadequate knowledge of the extent of my labors.2.
To covenant or contract to perform or execute. A man undertakes to erect a house, or to make a mile of canal, when he enters into stipulations for that purpose.3.
To attempt; as when a man undertakes what he cannot perform.4.
To assume a character. [Not in use.]5.
To engage with; to attack.Your lordship should not undertake every companion you offend. [Not in use.]
6.
To have the charge of.- Who undertakes you to your end. [Not in use.]
UNDERTA'KE
,Verb.
I.
1.
To take upon or assume any business or province.O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. Is. 38.
2.
To venture; to hazard. They dare not undertake.3.
To promise; to be bound.I dare undertake they will not lose their labor.
To undertake for, to be bound; to become surety for.
Definition 2024
undertake
undertake
English
Verb
undertake (third-person singular simple present undertakes, present participle undertaking, simple past undertook, past participle undertaken)
- (transitive) To take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc.).
- John Milton (1608-1674)
- To second, or oppose, or undertake / The perilous attempt.
- John Milton (1608-1674)
- (intransitive) To commit oneself (to an obligation, activity etc.).
- He undertook to exercise more in future.
- William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
- I'll undertake to land them on our coast.
- (informal) To overtake on the wrong side.
- I hate people who try and undertake on the motorway.
- (archaic, intransitive) To pledge; to assert, assure; to dare say.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, Bk.VII:
- "I have now aspyed one knyght," he seyde, "that woll play hys play at the justys, I undirtake."
- William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
- And those two counties I will undertake / Your grace shall well and quietly enjoiy.
- John Dryden (1631-1700)
- And he was not right fat, I undertake.
- John Woodward (1665-1728)
- I dare undertake they will not lose their labour.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, Bk.VII:
- (obsolete, transitive) To take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter xxxvij, in Le Morte Darthur, book IX:
- there came fourty knyghtes to sire Darras / […] / and they wold haue slayne sire Tristram and his two felawes / but sire Darras wold not suffre that but kepte them in pryson / […] / So sire Tristram endured there grete payne / for sekenesse had vndertake hym / and that is the grettest payne a prysoner maye haue
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter xxxvij, in Le Morte Darthur, book IX:
- (obsolete) To assume, as a character; to take on.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
- (obsolete) To engage with; to attack.
- William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
- It is not fit your lordship should undertake every companion that you give offence to.
- William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
- (obsolete) To have knowledge of; to hear.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
- (obsolete) To have or take charge of.
- Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400)
- Keep well those that ye undertake.
- William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
- who undertakes you to your end
- Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400)
Usage notes
- Sense: To commit oneself. This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive.
- See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Derived terms
Translations
to start an enterprise
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to commit oneself to an obligation
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