UNDERTAKE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.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

... announced to him, then, that there was a man who would undertake to find Lygia, he hurried with all speed to the house of Petronius; and barely had he finished saluting his uncle, when he inquired for ...

— Quo Vadis - A Narrative of the Time of Nero • Henryk Sienkiewicz

... call that decoration. They might just as well bunch up so many masses of bright colored rags. The shape of the flower, its manner of growth, and its individuality are altogether lost, and the sole effect produced is that of a confused mass of color. I will undertake that part of the business, and you had better leave the buying of the flowers ...

— Rujub, the Juggler • G. A. Henty

... that "he was not worthy to do it." He had seen in early life the sacred offices performed by his father and his brother, with a solemnity which had sanctified them in his memory; how could he presume to undertake such functions? His religion has been called in question by Johnson and by Boswell; he certainly had not the gloomy hypochondriacal piety of the one, nor the babbling mouth-piety of the other; but the spirit of Christian ...

— Oliver Goldsmith • Washington Irving

... Columbus, that I did not realize the full meaning. I thought, also, you seemed rather ready to leave me," she added gently, "and so said little; you do not know how it almost breaks my heart now that I am about to lose you. It was quixotic to let you undertake this journey." "An undertaker would have given me his kind offices for one even longer, had I remained here," replied Ayrault. "I cannot live in this humdrum world without you. The most sustained excitement cannot even palliate what seems to me like unrequited ...

— A Journey in Other Worlds • J. J. Astor

... island might be conducive to the improvement of the geography and natural history of these regions, and the good state of health enjoyed by the crews permitting a certain number of men to be spared from each ship during their equipment for sea, I now determined to undertake a journey into the interior for this purpose, accompanied by a certain number of officers and men who volunteered their services on the occasion; and the 1st of June was ...

— Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the • Sir William Edward Parry

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