UNDERTAKE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Undertake

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/ˈəndərtˌeɪk/ Listen

verb

Undertake v. t. (past undertook; past part. undertaken; pres. part. undertaking)

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 undertake The perilous attempt."

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."

3.

Hence, to guarantee; to promise; to affirm. "And he was not right fat, I undertake." "And those two counties I will undertake Your grace shall well and quietly enjoiy." "I dare undertake they will not lose their labor."

4.

To assume, as a character. (Obs.)

5.

To engage with; to attack. (Obs.) "It is not fit your lordship should undertake every companion that you give offense to."

6.

To have knowledge of; to hear. (Obs.)

7.

To take or have the charge of. (Obs.) "Who undertakes you to your end." "Keep well those that ye undertake."

Undertake v. i. (past undertook; past part. undertaken; pres. part. undertaking)

1.

To take upon one's self, or assume, any business, duty, or province. "O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me."

2.

To venture; to hazard. (Obs.) "It is the cowish terror of his spirit That dare not undertake."

3.

To give a promise or guarantee; to be surety. "But on mine honor dare I undertake For good lord Titus' innocence in all."

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Etymology of 'Undertake'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Undertake" Quotes from Famous Books

... to them the mission which he desired them to undertake, that is to say, the conveyance of a letter from himself to the Tsar offering terms for the surrender of the Lucifer. They accepted the mission; and in order that they might fully understand the gravity of it, Natas read them the letter, which ...

— The Angel of the Revolution - A Tale of the Coming Terror • George Griffith

... she would tell how Arthur Godolphin died a miser—just five minutes before she repaired to the toilette to decorate the cheek of age for the heedless eyes of a common acquaintance. 'Tis the world's way! For my part, I would undertake to find a better world in that rookery ...

— Godolphin, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... from the snow of the last two days, a hasty cup of tea and a mouthful of biscuit were partaken of, a prayer offered up, beseeching His mercy and guidance whose kind providence we all knew could alone support us in the hazardous journey we were about to undertake; hearty farewells, in which rough jokes covered many a kindly wish towards one another; and then, grasping their tracking lines, a hundred hoarse voices joined in loud cheers, and the divisions of sledges, diverging ...

— Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal; • Sherard Osborn

... to the meeting, John," she declared decidedly. "I'll tell them that you are not to undertake it." ...

— The Second Chance • Nellie L. McClung

... the same time, he may remain bed-ridden for months. He sinks very gradually, for he has had naturally a very strong constitution. I believe the anxiety of his mind, arising from your absence, and the blame he laid on himself for having allowed you to undertake your expedition, have worn him more than anything else; but now that you have returned, I have no doubt, after the first excitement is over, that he will rally. Still man is born to die, Mr Wilmot, and your uncle has already lived beyond the threescore years and ten ...

— The Mission; or Scenes in Africa • Captain Frederick Marryat

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