undertake 
Thez massengers they shall wele vnderstonde 
Among your knyghtez all that ther is on 
Shall under take to Answer for this lande. 
Generydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3175. 
I'll undertake to land them on our coast. 
Shak., S Hen. VI., iii. 3. 205. 
2. To engage in ; enter upon ; take in hand ; 
begin to perform ; set about ; attempt ; essay. 
Bycause I coiiet rather to satisfle you particularly than 
to undertake a generall tradition, I wil not so much stand 
vpon the manner as the matter of my precepts. 
Gascoigne, Notes on Eng. Verse, 3. (Arber.) 
I will undertake one of Hercules' labours. 
Shak., Much Ado, ii. 1. 380. 
3. To warrant; answer for; guarantee; affirm: 
especially with a following clause. 
Lending soft audience to my sweet design, 
And credent soul to that strong-bonded oath 
That shall prefer and undertake my troth. 
Shak., Lover's Complaint, 1. 280. 
A frog would make thee run ! 
Thou kill a man? No, no ! thy mother's sonne, 
Her only sonne, was a true coward bred. 
I'le undertake a sword shall strike thee dead, 
And never touch thee ! 
Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 25. 
Mr. Maverick came and undertook that the offenders 
should be forthcoming. 
Winthrop, Hist. Hew England, I. 172. 
4f. To take in; hear; understand; have know- 
ledge of. Spenser, P. Q., V. iii. 84. 5f. To as- 
sume, as a character. 
His name and credit shall you undertake. 
Shak., T. of the S., Iv. 2. 106. 
6f. To engage with ; have to do with ; attack. 
It is not fit your lordship should undertake every com- 
panion that you give offense to. 
Shak., Cymbeline, ii. 1. 29. 
He shall yield you all the honour of a competent adver- 
sary, if you please to undertake him. 
B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, v. 2. 
7f. To have the charge of. 
Who undertakes you to your end. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., il. 1. 97. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Essay, Endeavor, etc. See attempt. 
II, intrans. 1. To take up or assume any 
business, responsibility, or venture. 
Hardy he was and wys to undertake. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 405. 
It is the cowish tenor of his spirit, 
That dares not undertake. 
Shak., Lear, iv. 2. 13. 
No ill should force the subject undertake 
Against the sovereign. B. Jonaon, Sejanus, iv. 8. 
On the 28th of April, in the morning, I sailed with a 
cargo of wheat that did not belong to me, and three pas- 
sengers, instead of one, for whom only I had undertaken. 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 263. 
2. To promise ; be bound ; warrant ; answer 
for something ; guarantee. 
He nas nat right fat, I undertake. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 288. 
On mine honour dare I undertake 
For good Lord Titus' innocence in all. 
Shak., Tit. And., i. 1. 436. 
Specifically 3. To manage funerals, and ar- 
range all the details for burying the dead. 
[Colloq.] 
undertaker (un'der-ta-ker), n. [< undertake + 
-er 1 .] 1. One who undertakes or engages to 
perform any business ; one who engages in any 
project or business ; a projector. 
And yet the undertakers, nay, performers, 
Of such a brave and glorious enterprise 
Are yet unknown. Fletcher, Double Marriage, v. 2. 
He shall but be an undertaker with me, 
In a most feasible business. 
B. Jonson, Devil is an Ass, ii. 1. 
Promises made by undertakers imply somewhat of de- 
merit in their performance. 
Goldsmith, Pref. to Hist, of Seven Years' War. 
2. Specifically (a) One who stipulates or 
covenants to perform certain work for ano- 
ther ; a contractor. 
Sir William Ayloffe Knight and Anthony Thomas Es- 
quire became Undertakers to drain the said Level. 
The Great Level (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 316); 
Sat at the Tower with Sir J. Duncomb and to. Berkeley 
to signe deputations for undertakers to furnish their pro- 
portions of saltpetre. Evelyn, Diary, July 14, 1666. 
(6t) One who became surety or guarantee for 
another, or undertook to answer for him. 
For whose innocence . . . you were once a noble and 
timely undertaker to the greatest justice of this kingdom. 
B. Jonson, Ded. of Poetaster. 
(c) One whose business is to make prepara- 
tions for the burial of the dead, and to manage 
funerals. 
While rival undertakers hover round, 
And with his spade the sexton marks the ground. 
Young. 
(d) In British hist., a man of authority or influ- 
ence who undertook to induce or assure par- 
ticular legislation; usually, one of those who 
6600 
assured the king that if he would grant some 
concession, they would undertake that the Com- 
mons should vote desired supplies, (c) In Eng. 
Mat., a contractor for the collection of reve- 
nue, or the enforcement of purveyance for 
the royal household. (/) In Scots hist., one of 
a party of Lowland adventurers who, in the 
reigu of James VI., by authority of the crown, 
attempted to colonize some of the Hebrides, 
and so displace the original Celtic population. 
Scott. (<;) One of a body of English and Scot- 
tish adventurers who. in the latter part of the 
sixteenth century, undertook to hold lands in 
Ireland which were regarded as the property of 
the crown or of Englishmen. 
undertaking (un-der-ta'king), n. [Verbal n. of 
undertake, .] 1. The act of one who under- 
takes or engages to do any business, office, or 
duty. 
That which is required of each one towardes the vnder- 
taking of this aduenture. Hakluyt's Voyages, iii. 185. 
2. That which is undertaken; a business, work, 
or project which a person engages in or at- 
tempts to perform ; an enterprise. 
This is the very ecstasy of love, 
Whose violent property fordoes itself, 
And leads the will to desperate undertakings. 
Shak., Hamlet, ii. 1. 104. 
I had designed to have gone to that place [Tadmor] 
from Hasseiah, but I found that it would have been a very 
dangerous undertaking. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. 139. 
3. The business of an undertaker, or manager 
of funerals. Imp. Diet. 4. A promise; an en- 
gagement ; an obligation ; a guaranty ; specifi- 
cally, in Amer. law, a formal obligation entered 
into by or on behalf of a party to litigation, and 
usually with sureties, for the payment of money 
or performance of some act if it should be ad- 
judged due or otherwise become required, such 
an obligation being usually required as a con- 
dition of taking some step in the action, as, for 
instance, appealing or issuing an order of ar- 
rest or attachment. 
undertakingt (un-der-ta'king), p. a. Enter- 
prising. 
There are never wanting some persons of violent and 
undertaking natures, who, so they may have power and 
business, will take it at any cost. Bacon, Envy (ed. 1887). 
under-tenancy(un'der-ten"an-si),. A tenancy 
or tenure under a tenant or'lessee ; the tenure 
of an under-tenant. 
under-tenant (un'der-ten"ant), n. The tenant 
of a tenant ; one who holds lands or tenements 
of a tenant. 
nndertidet (un'der-tld), n. [< ME. undertid, < 
AS. underntide, < undern, nine o'clock, morning, 
+ tid, time : see undern and tide.'] Undertime. 
Ancren Riwle, 1. 400. 
undertimet (un'der-tlm), n. [< ME. undern- 
time, nndirtime; as undern + time^.J The part 
or division of the day which included undern : 
generally applied to the after-part of the day. 
See undern. 
An dazz att unnderrn time. Ormulum, 1. 19458. 
He, coming home at undertime, there found 
The fayrest creature that he ever saw. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. vii. 13. 
under-timed (un'der-timd), a. Inphotog., same 
as under-exposed. 
under-tint (un'der-tint), B. A subdued tint. 
Athen&um, No. 3194, p. 56. 
undertone (un'der-ton), n. 1 . A low or subdued 
tone ; a tone less forcible than is usual, as in 
speaking: as, to say something in an undertone. 
"What does she mean?" said M. to S. in an undertone. 
Scott, Guy Mannering, iii. 
And from within me a clear undertone 
Thrill'd thro' mine ears in that unblissful clime. 
Tennyson, Dream of Fair Women. 
2. A state or degree of tone, as of the physical 
or mental faculties, below their usual condi- 
tion. H. W. Beecher, Yale Lectures on Preach- 
ing. [Rare.] 3. The color of a pigment when 
seen in very thin layers on a white or light- 
colored surface. Also (a) A low, subdued color : as, 
gray undertones. (6) A tone of color seen through and 
giving character to other colors : as, there was a subtle 
undertone of yellow through the picture. 
undertoned (un'der-tond), a. 1. Uttered in a 
low or subdued tone. Atlantic Monthly, LXIV. 
178. 2. Being in a physical condition in which 
the animal functions are not performed with 
due vigor. 
Undertow (un'der-to), n. A current of water 
below the surface moving in a direction differ- 
ent from that of the surface-current ; the back- 
ward flow or back-draft of a wave breaking on 
a beach. Sometimes called under-water. 
underwork 
The water [of the in-coming wave] bursts with great 
force upon the land, and then sweeps back, as a powerful 
undertow, to the sea. Huxley, Physiography, p. 172. 
under-treated (un-der-tre'ted), a. Treated 
with too little respect ; treated slightingly. 
Gibber. [Rare.] 
undertrump (un-der-trump'), v. t. To throw 
a trump to, as a non-trump lead of cards in 
whist, lower than one already thrown by one's 
partner. 
underturnt (uu-der-tern'), v. t. [< ME. imder- 
turnen; < under + turn.'] To turn upside down ; 
subvert; upset. Wyclif. 
undervaluation (un'der-val-u-a"shon), n. The 
act of undervaluing, or valuing below the real 
worth; rate not equal to the worth; underes- 
timation. South, Sermons. 
undervalue (un-der-val'u), v. t. 1. To value, 
rate, or estimate below the real worth. Bacon, 
Honour and Reputation. 2. To esteem light- 
ly ; treat as of little worth ; despise ; hold in 
mean estimation. 
Do not under-value an Enemy by whom you have been 
worsted. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 114. 
undervalue (un'der-vaFu), n. 1. A value be- 
low the proper or true value ; a low estimate 
of worth ; a price less than the real value. 2f. 
Undervaluation. 
He did not care for chymistrey, and was wont to speak 
against them with undervalue. 
Aubrey, "Lives (William Harvey). 
undervaluer (un-der-val'u-er), re. [< undervalue 
+ -erl.] One who undervalues, or esteems too 
lightly. /. Walton. 
underverset (un'der-vers), . The following or 
second verse. 
Perigot maketh all hys song in prayse of his love, to 
whom Willy answereth every underverse. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., August, Gloss. 
undervest (un'der-vest), n. An undershirt; a 
shirt worn next the skin : generally a trade use. 
underviewer (un'der-vu"er), n. In coal-min- 
ing, the manager or superintendent of the mine 
and of the underground workings; the under- 
looker, in some coal-mining districts of Eng- 
land: nearly the same as the mining captain in 
a metal-mine. The usage varies in different districts 
in England with regard to the terms viewer and under- 
viewer. See viewer. 
under-water (un'der-wa/ter), n. Same as un- 
dertow. Herschel. 
Underwear (un'der-war), n. 1. A wearing un- 
der the outer clothing: as, clothes suited for 
underwear. 2. Undergarments; underclothes 
in general: a trade term. 
underweent (un-der-wen'), v. t. To undervalue. 
underweeningt (un-der-we'ning), . [Verbal 
n. of underween, i\] Undervaluation. 
The greatest underweening of this life is to undervalue 
that unto which this is but exordial, or a passage leading 
unto it. Sir T. Browne, Christ. Mor., iii. 25. 
underwent (un-der-wenf). Preterit of un- 
dergo. 
underwing (un'der-wing), n. A moth whose 
under wings are conspicuous in color or other- 
wise ; specifically, a moth of the genus Catocala. 
Crimson underwing, Catocala sponsa, a noctuid moth. 
Lunar underwing. see lunar. Orange under- 
wing. Seeoranijei. Pink underwing. See Calttmor- 
pha. Red underwing, any one of a number of species 
of Catocala whose under wings are red, banded with black. 
See red-undencing. Straw underwing. See straw-un- 
derwing. Yellow underwing, any British moth of the 
genus Triphsena. 
underwinged (un'der-wingd), a. In ornith., 
having the lining of the wings conspicuously 
colored: as, the underwinged dove, Leptoptila 
(or Engyptila) rufaxilla. P. L. Sdater. 
under-witcht (un'der-wich), 11. A subordinate 
or inferior witch. S. Butler, Hudibras. [Rare.] 
underwitted (un-der-wit'ed), a. Half-witted; 
silly. Bp. Eennet, Erasmus, Praise of Folly, 
p. 19. (Daries.) 
underwood (un'der-wud), n. Small trees and 
bushes that grow among large trees ; coppice ; 
underbrush. Addison, The Tall Club. 
underwork (un'der-werk), . Subordinate 
work; petty affairs. Addison. 
underwork (un-der-werk'), r. ; pret. and pp. 
underworked or miderwrought. ppr. underwork- 
ing. I, trans. 1. To work or practise on un- 
derhand; undermine; destroy by clandestine 
measures. 
Thou from loving England art so far 
That thou hast under- u-roiigM his lawful king. 
Shak., K. John, ii. 1. 96. 
2. To put insufficient work or labor on. 
A work may be overwrought as well as under-urouffht. 
Drtjden. 
