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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
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
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
undertake
.
Shakespeare
3.
To give a promise or guarantee; to be surety.
But on mine honor dare I
undertake

For good lord Titus' innocence in all.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition


Undertake

UNDERTA'KE

,
Verb.
T.
pret. undertook; pp. undertaken. [under and take.]
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)

  1. (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.
  2. (intransitive) To commit oneself (to an obligation, activity etc.).
    He undertook to exercise more in future.
  3. (informal) To overtake on the wrong side.
    I hate people who try and undertake on the motorway.
  4. (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.
  5. (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
  6. (obsolete) To assume, as a character; to take on.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  7. (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.
  8. (obsolete) To have knowledge of; to hear.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
  9. (obsolete) To have or take charge of.

Usage notes

  • Sense: To commit oneself. This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive.
  • See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

Translations