undertook

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.
   • They undertook the new venture, not sure where it would lead.

   Synonyms:

   tackle, take on, set about

2. (intransitive) To commit oneself (to an obligation, activity etc.).
   • He undertook to exercise more in future.
3. (UK, informal) To pass a slower moving vehicle on the curbside rather than on the side closest to oncoming traffic.

   Antonyms:

   overtake

4. (archaic, intransitive) To pledge; to assert, assure; to dare say.
   • That is her ransom; I deliver her;
     And those two counties I will undertake
     Your grace shall well and quietly enjoy.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
5. (obsolete, transitive) To take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon.
6. (obsolete) To assume, as a character; to take on.
   • Quince. […] you must needs play Pyramus.
     Bottom. Well, I will undertake it.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First...

See all 10 meanings of undertake