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Undertake   /ˈəndərtˌeɪk/   Listen
Undertake

verb
(past undertook; past part. undertaken; pres. part. undertaking)
1.
Enter upon an activity or enterprise.  Synonyms: attempt, set about.
2.
Accept as a challenge.  Synonyms: tackle, take on.
3.
Promise to do or accomplish.  Synonym: guarantee.
4.
Enter into a contractual arrangement.  Synonym: contract.
5.
Accept as a charge.  Synonym: take in charge.






WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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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

... and urban street vendors. The Paraguayan Government has stated publicly that it will continue its economic reform agenda in close coordination with its Mercosur (Southern Cone Common Market) partners. In 1995, the government also promised to undertake efforts to formalize the financial sector, after a financial shock forced the bail-out of the second and third largest banks. Paraguay's continued integration into Mercosur also offers potential for growth; it is closely linked ...
— The 1996 CIA Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... Birmingham (answering to our aldermen and councillors), and licensed by the Crown, for which the town paid L50, the purpose being to "make and found a gild and perpetual fraternity of brethren and sustern (sisters), in honour of the Holy Cross," and "to undertake all works of charity, &c., according to the appointment and pleasure of the said bailiffs and commonalty." In course of time the Guild became possessed of all the powers then exercised by the local corporate authorities, taking upon themselves the building of almshouses, the relief ...
— Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham - A History And Guide Arranged Alphabetically • Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell

... as evinced in the excellence of the courts, jails, hospitals, dispensaries, schools, roads, railways, canals, etc.,—the more I am amazed. I had before no idea of what was implied by the government of India. It would have been madness for any other people than the English to undertake it. Not that we have not in America a class of men of equal organizing power, but these have careers at home open to them, and could not be induced to leave their own land. Even if this were not so, America requires ...
— Round the World • Andrew Carnegie

... occasion'd the Tranquility of your Territories. And because the present Condition of your Germany is such as we see it, Men now-a-days run away from Countries infested with Plunderers and Oppressors, to take Sanctuary in those that are quiet and peaceable; as Mariners, who undertake a Voyage, forecast to avoid Streights, &c. and Rocky Seas, and chase to sail a calm and ...
— Franco-Gallia • Francis Hotoman

... had taught her that this care of a worthless life was sentimental, hysterical. He had urged her to put it away in some easy fashion, to hide it at least, in some sort of an asylum. That she had steadfastly refused to do. Better death outright, she had said. And that which he had feared to undertake, she had done, fearlessly. He had recoiled; it made him tremble to think of her in that act. What cowardice! These were the consequences of ...
— The Web of Life • Robert Herrick

... he sells, at the same time laying down the card bearing its name. The incongruity of the article named with the context make the fun of the game, which is heightened by the vigilance which each player must exercise in order to avoid a forfeit. Where the number of players is very small, each may undertake ...
— Entertainments for Home, Church and School • Frederica Seeger

... of a knightly quest that would win no praise from man, but yet be such as a true knight would fain undertake. Would not the rescue of yon wretched boy from the evil thraldom of that wicked sorcerer be such a task as that? Is not Basildene ours? Is it not for us to free it from the curse of such pollution? Is not that child one ...
— In the Days of Chivalry • Evelyn Everett-Green

... the modern family are not yet established. Anyone who wishes to show that this sort of society is a late corruption, not an early stage in evolution towards better things, has a difficult task before him, which, however, he must undertake, before he can prove zoolatry to ...
— Custom and Myth • Andrew Lang

... for a few Spanish prisoners, whom they captured, were able to tell them how the scheme had failed. The Governor, it was true, had planned to make "some opposition by the way," but none of the men remaining with him would consent to "undertake any such enterprize." With this news the troops marched back to Panama. While they were away, the poor prisoners made every effort to raise money for their ransoms, but many were unable to raise enough to satisfy their captors. Morgan had no wish to wait till they could ...
— On the Spanish Main - Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of Darien. • John Masefield

... many of Madame's methods which might be improved; and when Gabriella passed through the ivory and gold doorway into the street, she had convinced herself that she was preminently designed by Nature to undertake the necessary work of improvement. The tawdriness she particularly disliked—the trashy gold and ivory of the decorations, the artificial rose-bushes from which the dust was never removed, the sumptuous velvet carpets which were not taken up in ...
— Life and Gabriella - The Story of a Woman's Courage • Ellen Glasgow

... COOLLY URGE OTHERS TO FIGHT THEM. They had better save their journey money and use it to send out real fighters instead. Soldiers don't need dry nurses, and if they did the Holy Ghost is always on the spot and ready to undertake any case on simple application. No! David went to the battle and stayed to fight, and won! Wise beyond his years, he had no use for Saul's armour. It cramped his freedom of action. He tried it on and took it off, quick sharp. And, besides, it made ...
— The Chocolate Soldier - Heroism—The Lost Chord of Christianity • C. T. Studd

... did bold knight to relieve Distressed dames, such dreadful feats achieve, As feeble damsels for his sake Would have been proud to undertake, And, bravely ambitious to redeem The world's loss and their own, Strove who should have the honour to lay down, And change a ...
— Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds • Charles Mackay

... right, too," said Tom. "A woman should not undertake to nurse a tender little child without knowing what is good and what is bad ...
— Black Beauty • Anna Sewell

... moment she had an idea of sending her husband home, but after all what could Bill do? There was not much chance of his being able to persuade Philippa where she had failed, and, indeed, Bill had already made one effort in that direction, and was by no means over-anxious to undertake a second attempt to stem the torrent of ...
— East of the Shadows • Mrs. Hubert Barclay

... flesh is heir to' to afford you an ample choice of half a dozen typical incurable cases. When the deaf, dumb, lame, and otherwise suffering persons whom you wish experimented on have been brought and are in the presence of those whom you shall name, I will undertake to effect an immediate improvement in the condition of, say, four out of the six. It will probably become a complete cure on the second or third visit. I seldom or never see a patient more ...
— Buchanan's Journal of Man, April 1887 - Volume 1, Number 3 • Various

... stage where I am content to mention things with indignation. However, if you have really gone so far, I'm more than willing to trail after you. I'll at least back you with a few facts, such as every business man knows, and I'm good for a substantial contribution toward any campaign you may undertake. And what I do there are others who ...
— Jewel Weed • Alice Ames Winter

... CO., Publishers., 16. Great Marlborough Street, London, undertake the PRINTING and PUBLISHING of BOOKS and PAMPHLETS greatly under the usual charges. The works are got up in the best style, and tastefully and economically bound. Every attention is also paid to the publishing department. A specimen pamphlet of bookwork, with prices, ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 57, November 30, 1850 • Various

... between men and women. He is considerably interested in questions of 'matrimonial divergence.' He recognizes that most obvious of all obvious truths, that marriage is not always a success; nay, more than this, that it is often a makeshift, an apology, a pretense. But he professes to undertake nothing beyond a statement of the facts. It rests with the public to lay his statement beside their experience and observation, and thus take measure of the fidelity of ...
— The Bibliotaph - and Other People • Leon H. Vincent

... said I, "the game is up, and the whole scheme exploded. I would as soon undertake to ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, Number 360, October 1845 • Various

... the piece of invective which she was about to undertake, was not to be taken in hand unadvisedly, "but reverently, discreetly, and in the fear of God." And so she paused, and Julia fumbled the tassel of the window-curtain, and trembled with the chill of expectation. And Mrs. Abigail continued to debate how she might make this, which would ...
— The End Of The World - A Love Story • Edward Eggleston

... the level? If I undertake these prosecutions, shall I be allowed to push them honestly? Or will there be a private settlement as soon as Roebuck and his ...
— The Plum Tree • David Graham Phillips

... as if he would rather not undertake to lend his aid in a work that was evidently difficult; but being a good-natured man, he said, "And how, friend, can I ...
— The Young Fur Traders • R.M. Ballantyne

... to abandon easily the place in which he has spent great part of his life." Then the nobles returned to Blathmac and they made various complaints of Mochuda, accusing him falsely of many things; finally they asked the king to undertake the expulsion personally, for they were themselves unequal to the task. The king thereupon came to the place accompanied by a large retinue. Alluding prophetically to the king's coming, previous to that event, Mochuda ...
— The Life of St. Mochuda of Lismore • Saint Mochuda

... burning vividness of this new conception each man may boldly undertake things for God—conversions, purifications, missionary enlargements, business enterprises—that he knows are too great for himself; that he may find new helps for spiritual victories as great as this age has found for material triumphs ...
— Among the Forces • Henry White Warren

... me, that this scheme of a Bibliothque was a serious one: for upon his visiting him one day, he found his parlour floor covered with parcels of foreign and English literary journals, and he told Dr. Adams he meant to undertake a Review. 'How, Sir, (said Dr. Adams,) can you think of doing it alone? All branches of knowledge must be considered in it. Do you know Mathematicks? Do you know Natural History?' Johnson answered, 'Why, Sir, I must do as well as I can. My chief purpose is to give my ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1 • Boswell

... in the kitchen, or suffering a state of moral hectic the whole time of a nurse's empire in the nursery or bedroom. Our own experience goes to prove, that although many unqualified persons palm themselves off on ladies as fully competent for the duties they so rashly and dishonestly undertake to perform, and thus expose themselves to ill-will and merited censure, there are still very many fully equal to the legitimate exercise of what they undertake; and if they do not in every case give entire satisfaction, some of the fault,—and sometimes a great deal of ...
— The Book of Household Management • Mrs. Isabella Beeton

... a silk-covered hat, while on their heads a crown of laurels is actually placed. It is an old custom for each man to choose one from among his lady friends to be his wreath-binder, and she is supposed to undertake the making of his laurel crown. This was all very well so long as men only took the degree, but great jokes have arisen since women have stepped in, because ladies naturally think it is only right that men should ...
— Through Finland in Carts • Ethel Brilliana Alec-Tweedie

... ancient Books of China by the House of Ch'in could not have approached to anything like a complete destruction of them. There would be no occasion for the scholars of the Han dynasty, in regard to the bulk of their ancient literature, to undertake more than the work of recension and editing. 9. The idea of forgery by them on a large scale is out of the question. The catalogues of Liang Hsin enumerated more than 13,000 volumes of a larger or smaller size, the productions of nearly 600 different writers, and arranged in thirty-eight subdivisions ...
— THE CHINESE CLASSICS (PROLEGOMENA) Unicode Version • James Legge

... times blasting away the metals as well, and then having to travel hundreds of yards without metals: for the labour of kindling the obstructing engines, to shunt them down sidings perhaps distant, was a thing which I would not undertake. However, all's well that ends well, though if I had it to go through again, certainly I should not. The Speranza is now lying seven miles off Cape Roca, a heavy mist on the still water, this being the 19th of June at 10 in the night: no wind, no ...
— The Purple Cloud • M.P. Shiel

... opera stalls, seats of all sorts, those miraculous fungoid growths that cumber the floor of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition, and you will perceive what a lax bundle in fact is this simple straightforward term. In co-operation with an intelligent joiner I would undertake to defeat any definition of chair or chairishness that you gave me. Chairs just as much as individual organisms, just as much as mineral and rock specimens, are unique things—if you know them well enough you will find an individual ...
— A Modern Utopia • H. G. Wells

... his new home, when he gave up his purpose with regard to the church; it was beyond his power, as he saw. San Juan Capistrano had been too long on the decline, and the neophytes were too indifferent, to undertake this work. ...
— Old Mission Stories of California • Charles Franklin Carter

... Management, would undertake to safeguard the rights of the newly emancipated slaves. There would be an Employment Code—Count Erskyll was invited to draw that up—and a force of investigators, and an enforcement ...
— A Slave is a Slave • Henry Beam Piper

... seven fat kine of the Old Testament will be there in one: and one of us must dance with this monster. One of us will have to move from its place that mountain, which even Mahomet could not induce to stir, and waltz with it. Please undertake it for ...
— Debts of Honor • Maurus Jokai

... obliging." All this is reasonable enough; but mark the inducement: "a clever person fond of the country, and who can bear confinement, will find this a comfortable situation!" "This is too much." Another is for a butler and a valet, to "undertake the care and responsibility of a numerous family:" another is a young man for "a situation in any shop or warehouse, not particular what:" another of "a nurse, who can cut and make children's dresses, and instruct them in reading and spelling;" a school-assistant ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 13, - Issue 368, May 2, 1829 • Various

... honor. It was well known that he would never have consented to plead a doubtful cause; and they told of him a number of heroic stories, in which he had thrown clients out of the window, who had been so ill-advised to come to him, money in hand, to ask him to undertake an unclean case. He was naturally not a rich man, and preserved, at fifty-four or five, all the habits of a ...
— Within an Inch of His Life • Emile Gaboriau

... that he first heard, while pursuing his investigations, of an obscure man who had suddenly arisen to undertake a reformation in the Christian Church, whose declared aim was to rescue the new worship from that very degeneracy on the fatal progress of which rested all his hopes of triumph. It was reported that this man had been for some time devoted ...
— Antonina • Wilkie Collins

... in the Transvaal and Free State, it had been obviously the duty of the Intelligence department of the War Office to watch these as closely as the prevailing conditions permitted. This had been done ever since 1896, when the Commander-in-Chief had directed the department to undertake the investigation. The material thus obtained was collated in June, 1898, in the form of a handbook, entitled, "Military Notes on the Dutch Republics of South Africa," which set forth in a concise form the military ...
— History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4) - Compiled by Direction of His Majesty's Government • Frederick Maurice

... it is all ready made. Allingford and Oaks have had a row with little Grice; he's reported them, and it's quite natural they should want to pay him out for doing it. As they're such good boys, I don't suppose they'll try anything of the kind; but we might undertake the job, and do ...
— The Triple Alliance • Harold Avery

... very well that the State, after obtaining a class of trained men, cannot undertake for them alone great public works; there are not three hundred bridges needed a year in all France; the State can no more build great buildings for the fame of its engineers than it can declare war merely to win battles and bring to the front great generals; but, then, as men of genius have never ...
— The Village Rector • Honore de Balzac

... of even that fifty acres, and WE'LL undertake to hold the rest and eject those Harrisons from it," returned Stacey complacently. "You understand that the moment we've made a peaceable entrance to even a foothold on your side, the Harrisons are only trespassers, and with the title to back us we can call on the whole sheriff's ...
— Cressy • Bret Harte

... and there shortly came to the palace, from Sweden and Norway, from Denmark and Russia, from the continent and from the islands, a host of sturdy suitors, with axe on shoulder and pick in hand, ready to undertake the task. But all that they hacked and hewed, picked and hollowed, was labor lost. At every stroke the oak grew harder, and the granite no softer; so that the most persevering had at last ...
— Our Young Folks, Vol 1, No. 1 - An Illustrated Magazine • Various

... such alarm in the ranks of the Democrats. "I understand that my colleague has told the Senate," said Douglas contemptuously, "that he comes here as a Democrat. Sir, that fact will be news to the Democracy of Illinois. I undertake to assert there is not a Democrat in Illinois who will not say that such a statement is a libel upon the Democracy of that State. When he was elected he received every Abolition vote in the Legislature of Illinois. ...
— Stephen A. Douglas - A Study in American Politics • Allen Johnson

... vicarious glory in the victories of the First Empire; but the real patriotism of the Parisians does not extend farther than the walls of their own town. If the result of this war is to cause France to undertake the conduct of its own affairs, and not to allow the population of Paris and the journalists of Paris to ride roughshod over her, the country will have gained more than she has lost by her defeats, no matter what may be the indemnity she be called upon to pay. The martial ...
— Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris • Henry Labouchere

... man would think. You may take sufficient water to run your trains, to fill your tanks, to use in any way in connection with your business of transportation, and nobody will object to that; but when you undertake to divert a whole river to irrigate lands in order to sell them, you go too far. That is the business of a real-estate company, and not ...
— Desert Conquest - or, Precious Waters • A. M. Chisholm

... Carlile, Architect, Carpenter and Joiner. Respectfully informs his friends and the Public in general, that he proposes to undertake all kinds of buildings, as formerly he hath done in Europe and this country; on the lowest terms, with or without material, as he has learned the theory under the first architects in Europe, also practice in first buildings ...
— A Portrait of Old George Town • Grace Dunlop Ecker

... situation of the parties reversed; and a singular revolution puts the worthy baronet in a fair way of returning the prosecution in a recriminatory bill of pains and penalties, grounded on a breach of public trust relative to the government of the very same part of India. If he should undertake a bill of that kind, he will find no difficulty in conducting it with a degree of skill and vigor fully equal to all that have been exerted ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. III. (of 12) • Edmund Burke

... a little card in her neatest hand, and after long thought and labour of composition, in which the public is informed that "A Lady who has some time at her disposal, wishes to undertake the education of some little girls, whom she would instruct in English, in French, in Geography, in History, and in Music—address A. O., at Mr. Brown's"; and she confides the card to the gentleman of the Fine Art Repository, who consents to allow it to lie upon the counter, ...
— Vanity Fair • William Makepeace Thackeray

... class whom knowledge has placed above creeds and forms. There are, of course, Japanese scholars willing to aid researches of foreign scholars in religion or in folk-lore; but these specialists do not undertake to gratify idle curiosity of the 'globe-trotting' description. I may also say that the foreigner desirous to learn the religious ideas or superstitions of the common people must obtain them from the people ...
— Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan • Lafcadio Hearn

... illustrious captain, and the founder of the Comnenian dynasty. The princess Anne, his daughter and historian, observes, in her affected style, that even Hercules was unequal to a double combat; and, on this principle, she approves a hasty peace with the Turks, which allowed her father to undertake in person the relief of Durazzo. On his accession, Alexius found the camp without soldiers, and the treasury without money; yet such were the vigor and activity of his measures, that in six months he assembled an army of seventy ...
— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 5 • Edward Gibbon

... on being entrusted with a work, cometh forward, saying,—"I will do this"—is alone worthy of living in a royal household. He that on being entrusted with a task, either within the king's dominion or out of it, never feareth to undertake it, is alone fit to reside in a royal household. He that living away from his home, doth not remember his dear ones, and who undergoeth (present) misery in expectation of (future) happiness, is alone worthy of dwelling in a royal household. ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 2 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli

... sell the securities at less than par, without limitation as to rate. He may sell them in any form he chooses. He may put them in the form of treasury notes or bonds, the interest payable in gold or in paper money. He may undertake, under the provisions of this bill, to fund the whole debt of the United States. The only limit as to amount is the public debt, now $2,700,000,000. The power conferred on the Secretary of the Treasury is absolute. It is not only for this year, or during the current fiscal year, ...
— Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet - An Autobiography. • John Sherman

... San Francisco I hunted up Major Turner, whom I found boarding, in company with General E. A. Hitchcock, at a Mrs. Ross's, on Clay Street, near Powell. I took quarters with them, and began to make my studies, with a view to a decision whether it was best to undertake this new and untried scheme of banking, or to return to New Orleans and hold on to what I then ...
— Memoirs of Three Civil War Generals, Complete • U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman, P. H. Sheridan

... feasible," said Fritz in a reflective way. "I'll talk to Captain Brown, and see what he says of it." The elder brother had a good deal of German caution in his composition; so that, although prompt of action, he was never accustomed to undertake anything without due deliberation. ...
— Fritz and Eric - The Brother Crusoes • John Conroy Hutcheson

... of some sort was a necessity for the younger brother of that meanest of bachelor peers, the Marquis of Innisfallen. "He's an amateur chauffeur," I hastened to explain. "He only does it for me because we're friends, you know; but," I added, with a stern and meaning glance at Terry, "I'm unable to undertake any tours without his assistance. So if we—er—arrange anything, Mr. Barrymore will be ...
— My Friend the Chauffeur • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... tunnel under the sea to bridge Daem and the mainland, for if we had made a fleet of ships, or attempted anything on the surface, they would have seen and known what we intended to do. The tunnel is very long, and it was an arduous task to undertake, but with much patience we prevailed, and now it is complete. In fact, it was only completed yesterday, though it was started more than 500 ...
— The Revolutions of Time • Jonathan Dunn

... give it to the best of my ability. I think it is wise to undertake legal action as a starter to regaining control of your water rights. If they ...
— Cowboy Dave • Frank V. Webster

... pleasure to testify to the character, ability and attainments of Mr. E. J. Heidenreich. He has been a trusted personal associate of mine for more than twenty years. He may be counted upon to do successfully anything that he is willing to undertake. ...
— Practical Grammar and Composition • Thomas Wood

... no lawyer to assist you. Now I know that it is necessary, and will very probably be of great service in your defence—for when people are in distress and anxiety, they have not their wits about them; so I have brought a friend of mine from Portsea, a very clever man, who, for my sake, will undertake your cause, and I hope you will not refuse him. You recollect giving me a dozen pair of stockings. I did not refuse them, nor shall you refuse me now. I always said to Mr Trotter, 'Go to a lawyer;' and if he had taken my advice he would have done well. I recollect, when a hackney-coachman ...
— Peter Simple and The Three Cutters, Vol. 1-2 • Frederick Marryat

... peace. If he be now return'd— As checking at his voyage, and that he means No more to undertake it,—I will work him To exploit, now ripe in my device, Under the which he shall not choose but fall: And for his death no wind shall breathe; But even his mother shall uncharge the practice And ...
— Hamlet, Prince of Denmark • William Shakespeare [Collins edition]

... undertake this unpleasant office," he said, "though I could, in my inmost soul, pray that the necessity for it might pass away. Should the worst arrive, I have still hopes of effecting something by means of a ransom; but what will have been ...
— Homeward Bound - or, The Chase • James Fenimore Cooper

... spread caused a panic throughout the city, and even the boldest were not proof against the general terror. If any man felt himself sickening of the plague, he at once gave up all hope, and made no effort to fight against the disease. Few were found brave enough to undertake the duty of nursing the sick, and those who did generally paid for their devotion with their lives. In most cases the patient was left to languish alone, and perished by neglect, while his nearest and dearest avoided his presence, and had grown so callous that they had ...
— Stories From Thucydides • H. L. Havell

... the matter with the brain of Brunel, Jr., but that little was enough; a competent railroad surveyor, a good bridge builder, he needed to be held within bounds when handling other people's funds; for the man's ambition would have lead him to undertake to bridge the Atlantic. He met with the speculators required in this very instance of the constructors of the Great Eastern. This monstrous ship has been described so often, that it would be a cruelty to our readers to inflict the story upon ...
— Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 • Barkham Burroughs

... without danger of being caught, and I explained the plan I had worked out by which it could be done. (I will not explain what the plan was, lest some other foolish boy try it.) I was promptly challenged to undertake it for a high wager, and that challenge overcame any scruple I may have had. I cared nothing for a brief visit to New York, and had only five dollars in my pocket which Jerome N. Bonaparte loaned me to pay my way. But I went to the city and back, in perfect safety, between ...
— Forty-Six Years in the Army • John M. Schofield

... which arise in your own mind appeared to them, and how they solved them. 2. Much light may be thrown upon many difficult passages of Scripture, by an intimate acquaintance with the times and circumstances under which they were written; and men who undertake to write on these subjects generally search deeply into these things. 3. God has been pleased, in every age, to raise up men "mighty in the Scriptures." By the extraordinary powers of mind which he has given them, they may have clearer perceptions ...
— A Practical Directory for Young Christian Females - Being a Series of Letters from a Brother to a Younger Sister • Harvey Newcomb

... worthless—will be suspended or destroyed; and, what is worse, the great powers of Europe, of whom no one was an enemy to Greece, but seemed to favour her establishment of an independent power, will be persuaded that the Greeks are unable to govern themselves, and will, perhaps, themselves undertake to settle your disorders in such a way as to blast the brightest hopes of yourselves and of ...
— Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6 (of 6) - With his Letters and Journals • Thomas Moore

... the latter my readers I believe are only partially acquainted; he has been in London, but I rather think only made but a short stay, certainly a more perfect representation of French nature it would be impossible to imagine; even although he undertake ever so opposite a description of character, the simple truth would be given in them all; he has not recourse to grimace or buffoonery, or any exaggerated action, but seems not to remember he is counterfeiting a part, but appears to make the case his own, ...
— How to Enjoy Paris in 1842 • F. Herve

... dearest Harriot ask What for love I would pursue? Would you, charmer, know what task I would undertake for you? ...
— Miscellanies, Volume 2 (from Works, Volume 12) • Henry Fielding

... liability for its repair, each power claiming jurisdiction over the Rhone, all attempts to preserve it from ruin were abandoned in 1680, when Louis XIV. refused either to allow the legates to take toll for the necesary repairs, or to undertake them himself. ...
— Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 3 • Various

... debated the wisdom of this decision, arguing that the President had assigned that task to the Fahy Committee, but they were overruled. Forrestal ordered the newly created Personnel Policy Board to undertake, simultaneously with the committee, a study of the department's racial policy. The board was to concentrate on "breaking down the problem," as Forrestal put it, into its component parts and trying to arrive quietly ...
— Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 • Morris J. MacGregor Jr.

... are more suitable to divergent conditions. Hence it can readily be inferred that the choice cannot be the same for different regions. Every region should select its own type from among the various forms, and variety testing therefore becomes a task which every [117] one must undertake under his own conditions. Some varieties will prove, after isolation, to be profitable for large districts and perhaps for whole states. Others will be found to be of more local value, but in such localities to excel ...
— Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation • Hugo DeVries

... SELF-SUPPORTING.—The young man who gives evidence of thrift is always in demand. Be enthusiastic and drive with success all that you undertake. A young man, sober, honest and industrious, holding a responsible position or having a business of his own, is a prize that some bright and beautiful young lady would like to draw. Woman ...
— Searchlights on Health - The Science of Eugenics • B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols

... please, or I will undertake the denouement of the comedy; leave the room; return to your own apartment, and I trust my lesson may be of ...
— The Vicomte de Bragelonne - Or Ten Years Later being the completion of "The Three - Musketeers" And "Twenty Years After" • Alexandre Dumas

... profess to respect what they really despise and hate,—these feel and express a deep interest in religious opinions; devote time and attention to theological studies; and, as the result of their investigations, avow their utter disbelief of the peculiar doctrines of the cross; and undertake to demonstrate their falsehood and absurdity. They tell you, they have maturely examined the whole subject—that they have brought to the investigation all the aid that extensive reading and critical research can furnish—that they have carried the ...
— The National Preacher, Vol. 2 No. 7 Dec. 1827 • Aaron W. Leland and Elihu W. Baldwin

... now undertake the analysis of the case of Lady Macbeth, I stand not only before the last but the most difficult portion of my work. Here indeed everything sexual and the erotic itself seem to be quite excluded; and my attempt appears to fail in both directions, in the sexual as well as in the infantile, ...
— Sleep Walking and Moon Walking - A Medico-Literary Study • Isidor Isaak Sadger

... The gymnasium-teacher has a high sense of the dignity of his vocation and a keen sense of its responsibilities, because he perceives that he must bring his labors to a well-rounded conclusion. He knows that the university does not supplement the gymnasium—that the university professors do not undertake to make good his shortcomings. The gymnasial course is a completed phase of training. It aims at giving the pupil all the general knowledge that he requires previous to his professional studies. What is lost or overlooked in the gymnasium cannot be acquired at the university. Hence the peculiar ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science - February, 1876, Vol. XVII, No. 98. • Various

... canter it was soon passed, and she pressed on to the Salado, some three miles distant. Full well she knew she would be sought for when morning dawned; and with such speed she almost flew on, that sunrise found her many miles from her home, Inez was fearless, or she would never have dared to undertake what lay before her. Alone, unprotected, in the guise of a man, without possessing his ordinary means of defense, there was much to risk; for Indian depredations were frequent, and she must traverse a wide waste of almost interminable ...
— Inez - A Tale of the Alamo • Augusta J. Evans

... say to you? A. He said we were truly three worthy Most Excellent Masters, commended us for our zeal and disinterestedness, and asked what part of the work we were willing to undertake. ...
— The Mysteries of Free Masonry - Containing All the Degrees of the Order Conferred in a Master's Lodge • William Morgan

... wish his Lordship would not undertake to charge the opinions of one or two, and those probably nonjurors, upon the whole body of the nation that differs from him. Mr. Lesley writ a "Proposal for a Union with the Gallican Church;" somebody else has "carried the necessity of priesthood in ...
— The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, Vol. III.: Swift's Writings on Religion and the Church, Vol. I. • Jonathan Swift

... against me, I shall simply let him escape at once. Don't draw your revolver, please. I prefer to be the only person with a weapon in my hand. He has made a list of all the things he has stolen, and I shall see that they are returned to their owners at any cost. Will you undertake to get him safely to a mine I own in Mexico? Once there he can't get away. It is forty-five miles from a railway. If you accomplish this, I will give you ten thousand to make up for the reward you didn't get,—five thousand ...
— The Burglar and the Blizzard • Alice Duer Miller

... which was forced on you once; but now you shall have your choice whether you will undertake it with your free will ...
— A Sea Queen's Sailing • Charles Whistler

... acquaintance with Mr. Herbert, who appears to me a very promising young man. I set up a chaise in May next, which will give me the liberty of travelling about, and you may be sure a journey to Glasgow will be one of the first I shall undertake. I intend to require with great strictness an account how you have been employing your Leisure, and I desire you to be ready for that purpose. Wo be to you if the Ballance be against you. Your friends here will also expect ...
— Life of Adam Smith • John Rae

... not," he said, "permit her to undertake any effort until she can inspire within one day of twelve hours at least eighteen quatrains, and those lucid, grammatical, and moving. As for single lines, tags, fine phrases, and the rest, they are no sign whatever of returning health, if anything ...
— On Nothing & Kindred Subjects • Hilaire Belloc

... and daring Brahman undertake the warlike deed, Let him try and by his prowess win ...
— Maha-bharata - The Epic of Ancient India Condensed into English Verse • Anonymous

... interviews between his honour the Lieutenant-Governor and yourself on the subject of the proposed mission to the Saskatchewan, I have it now in command to acquaint you with the objects his honour has in view in asking you to undertake the mission, and also to define the duties ...
— The Great Lone Land - A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of America • W. F. Butler

... 10 a.m. Stopford issued orders saying the LIVth must march off at 4 p.m. moving East of Anafarta Ova. Then,—when at last all seemed settled, in came a message from the G.O.C. LIIIrd Division, saying he could not undertake to clear Anafarta Ova of snipers and to hold it as a cover to the advance of ...
— Gallipoli Diary, Volume 2 • Ian Hamilton

... will receive the foregoing in a friendly spirit, and whatever your convictions may be upon great questions of national interest, either foreign or domestic, that you will not undertake to blow out the gas on retiring, and that you will in other ways realize the fond anticipations which are now cherished in your behalf by a mighty people whose aggregated eye is now ...
— Remarks • Bill Nye

... Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida to representation in Congress," I do not deem it necessary to state at length the reasons which constrain me to withhold my approval. I will not, therefore, undertake at this time to reopen the discussion upon the grave constitutional questions involved in the act of March 2, 1867, and the acts supplementary thereto, in pursuance of which it is claimed, in the preamble to this bill, these States have framed and adopted ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 6: Andrew Johnson • James D. Richardson

... proposed there was to be no love-making. The bargain was one that might have been made in the course of De Decker's business. I was to give Pauline my wealth and name, in return for which she promised to become my wife, and to undertake the management of my household. It was a shameful bargain, and I was well served ...
— Adventures in Southern Seas - A Tale of the Sixteenth Century • George Forbes

... forward in hot pursuit as far as Washington, but being numerically so inferior to the Federal cavalry, and in ignorance that the Northern infantry had become a mere panic-stricken mob, it would have been imprudent in the extreme for such a handful of cavalry to undertake ...
— With Lee in Virginia - A Story of the American Civil War • G. A. Henty

... SUFFOLK. I'll undertake to make thee Henry's queen, To put a golden scepter in thy hand And set a precious crown upon thy head, If thou wilt condescend ...
— King Henry VI, First Part • William Shakespeare [Aldus edition]

... an age, you will never return from so long a journey." What care I for that? I neither undertake it to return, nor to finish it my business is only to keep myself in motion, whilst motion pleases me; I only walk for the walk's sake. They who run after a benefit or a hare, run not; they only run who run at base, and to exercise their running. My design is divisible throughout: ...
— The Essays of Montaigne, Complete • Michel de Montaigne

... individuals, and public officials. Experience has shown repeatedly that when emergency operations are conducted in accordance with existing plans, reaction time is reduced and coordination improved, with fewer casualties, less property damage, and a higher surviving socioeconomic capability to undertake recovery. Other benefits that accrue from planning include the enhancement ...
— An Assessment of the Consequences and Preparations for a Catastrophic California Earthquake: Findings and Actions Taken • Various

... and churches, before a priest has been brought to them, or even mentioned, to my knowledge. May God, whose plantation this is, send workmen hither, since there is harvest enough in all this island; and when they shall undertake to extend their labors further, there are, near by, some little islands in extreme spiritual want, and entirely deprived of any human succor for their conversion. Therein might be held some missions most acceptable to God, all the more so because those ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, - Volume XIII., 1604-1605 • Ed. by Blair and Robertson

... who had resolved to undertake the colonization of Canada, obtained a commission from the king, and formed a company, composed of several gentlemen and the principal merchants of Rouen. Francois Grave, Sieur du Pont, who had already accompanied Chauvin to Tadousac, was chosen to return there and to examine the Sault St. Louis ...
— The Makers of Canada: Champlain • N. E. Dionne

... far as France can replace savagery by true civilization, we shall rejoice in her advances in any part of the world. And further, we have no right to, nor do we pretend to the exercise of, the duty of police of the world. But at the same time, while we ought not and cannot undertake such extensive responsibilities, we have, in this part of the Indian Ocean, constituted ourselves for many years a kind of international police for the suppression of the slave-trade, in the interests of humanity and freedom; ...
— The Contemporary Review, January 1883 - Vol 43, No. 1 • Various



Words linked to "Undertake" :   specify, go for, qualify, condition, subvention, consent, pioneer, hire, confront, rent, assure, subvent, accept, underwrite, sign, rise, promise, face up, charter, initiate, lease, face, undertaking, stipulate



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