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Undertake vs Decide - What's the difference?

undertake | decide |

As verbs the difference between undertake and decide

is that undertake is (label) to take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc) while decide is .

undertake

English

Verb

  • (label) To take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc.).
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:To second, or oppose, or undertake / The perilous attempt.
  • (label) To commit oneself (to an obligation, activity etc.).
  • :
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:I'll undertake to land them on our coast.
  • (label) To overtake on the wrong side.
  • :
  • To pledge; to assert, assure; to dare say.
  • *, Bk.VII:
  • *:"I have now aspyed one knyght," he seyde, "that woll play hys play at the justys, I undirtake ."
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:And those two counties I will undertake / Your grace shall well and quietly enjoiy.
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:And he was not right fat, I undertake .
  • * (1665-1728)
  • *:I dare undertake they will not lose their labour.
  • To take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon.
  • *:
  • *:there came fourty knyghtes to sire Darras // So sire Tristram endured there grete payne / for sekenesse had vndertake hym / and that is the grettest payne a prysoner maye haue
  • (label) To assume, as a character; to take on.
  • :(Shakespeare)
  • (label) To engage with; to attack.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:It is not fit your lordship should undertake every companion that you give offence to.
  • (label) To have knowledge of; to hear.
  • :(Spenser)
  • (label) To have or take charge of.
  • *(Geoffrey Chaucer) (c.1343-1400)
  • *:Keep well those that ye undertake .
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:who undertakes you to your end
  • Usage notes

    * Sense: To commit oneself. This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. * See

    Derived terms

    * undertaker * undertaking

    decide

    English

    Verb

    (decid)
  • To resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle.
  • The election will be decided on foreign policies.
    We must decide our next move.
    Her last-minute goal decided the game.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The quarrel toucheth none but us alone; / Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.
  • To make a judgment, especially after deliberation.
  • You must decide between good and evil.
    I have decided that it is healthier to walk to work.
  • * Bible, 1 Kings xx. 40
  • So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.
  • To cause someone to come to a decision.
  • * 1920 , , "The Adventure of the Three Gables" (Norton edition, 2005, p. 1537),
  • It decides me to look into the matter, for if it is worth anyone's while to take so much trouble, there must be something in it.
  • (obsolete) To cut off; to separate.
  • * Fuller
  • Our seat denies us traffic here; / The sea, too near, decides us from the rest.

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Synonyms

    * make up one's mind * choose * determine * pick