From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Undertake \Un'der*take"\, verb (used with an object) [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. --Shak.
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. --Shak.
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. --Shak.
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
verb
1: enter upon an activity or enterprise [syn: {set about}, {attempt}]
2: accept as a challenge; "I'll tackle this difficult task" [syn: {tackle}, {take on}]
3: promise to do or accomplish; "guarantee to free the prisoners" [syn: {guarantee}]
4: enter into a contractual arrangement [syn: {contract}]
5: accept as a charge [syn: {take in charge}] [also: {undertook}, {undertaken}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
20 Moby Thesaurus words for "undertaken": accepted, agreed, arranged, assumed, chanced, compacted, contracted, covenanted, engaged, in hand, in process, in progress, in the works, on the anvil, promised, sealed, settled, signed, stipulated, under way
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Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
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