Undo
[ʌn'duː] or [ʌn'du]
Definition
(verb.) cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect; 'I wish I could undo my actions'.
(verb.) cause the ruin or downfall of; 'A single mistake undid the President and he had to resign'.
Checker: Michelle--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To reverse, as what has been done; to annul; to bring to naught.
(v. t.) To loose; to open; to take to piece; to unfasten; to untie; hence, to unravel; to solve; as, to undo a knot; to undo a puzzling question; to undo a riddle.
(v. t.) To bring to poverty; to impoverish; to ruin, as in reputation, morals, hopes, or the like; as, many are undone by unavoidable losses, but more undo themselves by vices and dissipation, or by indolence.
Typed by Frank
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Annul, invalidate, frustrate, bring to nought.[2]. Loose, unfasten, untie, disengage, open, unfold, disentangle, unravel.[3]. Ruin, destroy.[4]. Impoverish, bring to poverty.
Typed by Helga
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Annul, frustrate, untie, unfasten, destroy,[See ANNUL]
Checker: Merle
Definition
v.t. to reverse what has been done: to bring to naught: to loose: to open: to unravel: to impoverish: to ruin as in reputation: (Shak.) to leave undone.—ns. Undo′er; Undo′ing the reversal of what has been done: ruin.—adj. Undone′ not done: ruined: untied unfastened.
Edited by Julia
Examples
- I pray you, reverend father as you are a Christian, to undo your door, and at least point out to me my road. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Now the question is whether it's worth-while to undo all that has been done. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- When he began to undo the chain, the legs desisted, and a voice began. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Ah, don't let us undo what you've done! Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- Your portion is unhappily so small that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of your loveliness and amiable qualifications. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Undo the postern gate, and let out the Jew and me. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- I am simply blighted--like a damaged ear of corn--the business is done and can't be undone. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Nothing has been left undone, my dear sir--nothing whatever. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- You left nothing undone. Jane Austen. Emma.
- This proved to be a most knotty and intricate puzzle--tricky and evasive--always leading on and promising something, and at the last slipping away leaving the work undone. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Certainly a gray mist swirled before my eyes, and when it cleared I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- These things ought ye to have done, and not to have left the others undone. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The Knight undid the clasp of the baldric, and indulged his fellow-traveller, who immediately hung the bugle round his own neck. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- He undid it slowly, leering and laughing at me, before he began to turn them over, and threw it there. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- It took no inconsiderable perseverance to arouse the inmates; but at last the respectable proprietor appeared, and undid the door. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- I sat beside him, undid my tunic and tried to rip the tail of my shirt. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Having gazed cautiously round him, and listened intently, he gently undid the fastenings of the door, and looked abroad. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The little fellow crouched trembling just an instant, but that instant was quite long enough to prove his undoing. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- She did not say anything but slipped her hand inside of his shirt and he felt her undoing the shirt buttons and she said, You, too. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Undoing his helmet, he placed it on the table, and stood a moment as if to collect himself before he told his news. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- The Medes and Persians formed an alliance with the nomadic Semitic Chaldeans of the south for the joint undoing of Assyria. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- And as she spoke she was undoing a small parcel, which Fanny had observed in her hand when they met. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- But his very thirst for knowledge and new facts again proved his undoing. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- What the acid does, the base undoes, either wholly or in part. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Give her a whiff of fresh air with the bellows, Charley,' said Mr. Dawkins; 'and you slap her hands, Fagin, while Bill undoes the petticuts. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
Edited by Barbie