UNDERTAKE


Meaning of UNDERTAKE in English

| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ verb

Etymology: Middle English undertaken, from under (I) + taken to take — more at take

transitive verb

1. : to take in hand : enter upon : set about : attempt

undertake a task

undertake a journey

undertake to campaign for office

when armed uprisings have been undertaken by single oppressed classes — M.R.Cohen

2. : to take upon oneself solemnly or expressly : put oneself under obligation to perform : contract , covenant

a player undertakes to win nine tricks provided he may declare his own trumps — J.B.Pick

3. : guarantee , promise

the magician who undertakes to make or stop rain — J.G.Frazer

4. : to accept as a charge : engage to look after or attend to : accept the responsibility for the care of

undertake a patient

lawyer may refuse to undertake a case which appears to him unsound — H.S.Drinker

5. archaic

a. : to engage with in combat

b. : to engage with in argument or competition : take on

6. obsolete : reprove , chide

7. obsolete : to take in or receive by hearing or interpreting

intransitive verb

1. archaic : to enter into an engagement or contract : pledge — used with for

2. archaic : to give surety or assume responsibility — used with for

3. obsolete : to engage in a venture or enterprise

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.