UNDERTAKING • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Undertaking

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/ˈəndərtˌeɪkɪŋ/ 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."

noun

Undertaking n.

1.

The act of one who undertakes, or engages in, any project or business.

2.

That which is undertaken; any business, work, or project which a person engages in, or attempts to perform; an enterprise.

3.

Specifically, the business of an undertaker, or the management of funerals.

4.

A promise or pledge; a guarantee.

See images of 'Undertaking'

Etymology of 'Undertaking'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Undertaking" Quotes from Famous Books

... astonished his native village by putting in excellent playing order a battered old piano, long before laid aside; and Lowell Mason, at sixteen, was already leading a large church choir, and drilling a brass band. The undertaking of this brass band by a boy was an amusing instance of Yankee audacity; for when the youth presented himself to the newly formed band to give them their first lesson, he found so many instruments in their hands which he had never seen nor heard of, that he could not proceed. ...

— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 117, July, 1867. • Various

... out-of-the-way part of the house. The Manor was very large, and nearly the whole of the left wing was unoccupied. They passed door after door, all leading to more and more empty rooms, till Lindsay began to grow almost dismayed at the bigness of their undertaking. ...

— The Manor House School • Angela Brazil

... trust funds arising from the sale of their eastern lands formed the basis of their finances. They founded churches, schools, and orphan asylums, and upon the whole succeeded remarkably well in their undertaking, although their policy of admitting intermarried whites and negroes to citizenship in the tribe led to much political corruption. Gradually some forty tribes, or tribal remnants, were colonized in the Territory; but this scheme failed ...

— The Indian Today - The Past and Future of the First American • Charles A. Eastman

... the changed state of Bosnia. Prince Nikola, in consideration of his lost and buried ancestors, obtained certain concessions in the status of Antivari. Russia, as war was impossible for her, did all she could to maintain peace, even undertaking a large share of the pecuniary compensation demanded of Bulgaria by the Turks. To Serbia she counselled moderation, but, as we have learnt from recently published documents, pledged herself' to support ...

— Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle • Durham M. Edith

... something which they can make use of later on," continued the lady. "You know that this is necessary and that it is very hard to get such opportunities in the country. I hope I have persuaded you that coming to town with the children was not a foolish undertaking. I am extremely glad that you have given me an opportunity to explain why I did not follow ...

— Cornelli • Johanna Spyri

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