Undertake \Un`der*take"\, v. t. [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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Undertaking \Un`der*tak"ing\, n.

1. The act of one who undertakes, or engages in, any project or business. --Hakluyt.

2. That which is undertaken; any business, work, or project which a person engages in, or attempts to perform; an enterprise.

3. Specifically, the business of an undertaker, or the management of funerals.

4. A promise or pledge; a guarantee. --A. Trollope.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)