English Dictionary

UNDO (undid, undone)

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

Irregular inflected forms: undid  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation, undone  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

 Dictionary entry overview: What does undo mean? 

UNDO (verb)
  The verb UNDO has 5 senses:

1. cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effectplay

2. deprive of certain characteristicsplay

3. cause the ruin or downfall ofplay

4. cause to become looseplay

5. remove the outer cover or wrapping ofplay

  Familiarity information: UNDO used as a verb is common.


 Dictionary entry details 


UNDO (verb)

 Conjugation: 
Present simple: I / you / we / they undo  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation ... he / she / it undoes  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Past simple: undid  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Past participle: undone  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
-ing form: undoing  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation


Sense 1

Meaning:

Cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

I wish I could undo my actions

Hypernyms (to "undo" is one way to...):

change by reversal; reverse; turn (change to the contrary)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "undo"):

unstrap (remove the strap or straps from)

unwire (undo the wiring of)

open; spread; spread out; unfold (spread out or open from a closed or folded state)

unbuckle (undo the buckle of)

disentangle; unwind (separate the tangles of)

unknot; unpick; unravel; unscramble; untangle (become or cause to become undone by separating the fibers or threads of)

unbraid (undo the braids of)

disconnect; unplug (pull the plug of (electrical appliances) and render inoperable)

unpin (remove the pins from; unfasten the pins of)

unbutton (undo the buttons of)

unclip (remove the clip from)

unstaple (take the staples off)

unbelt (undo the belt of)

unfasten (cause to become undone)

unpick (undo (the stitches) of (a piece of sewing))

unhitch (unfasten or release from or as if from a hitch)

unbrace; unlace; untie (undo the ties of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

undoing (an act that makes a previous act of no effect (as if not done))


Sense 2

Meaning:

Deprive of certain characteristics

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

undo; unmake

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "undo"):

destroy; destruct (do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something


Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause the ruin or downfall of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

A single mistake undid the President and he had to resign

Hypernyms (to "undo" is one way to...):

ruin (destroy or cause to fail)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

undoer (a person who destroys or ruins or lays waste to)

undoer (a seducer who ruins a woman)


Sense 4

Meaning:

Cause to become loose

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

loosen; undo; untie

Context example:

loosen the necktie

Hypernyms (to "undo" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

undoer (a person who unfastens or unwraps or opens)

undoing (loosening the ties that fasten something)


Sense 5

Meaning:

Remove the outer cover or wrapping of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

undo; unwrap

Context example:

undo the parcel

Hypernyms (to "undo" is one way to...):

expose; uncover (remove all or part of one's clothes to show one's body)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

undoer (a person who unfastens or unwraps or opens)


 Context examples 


The two friends chatted in intimate converse for a few minutes, recalling once again the days of the past, while their prisoner vainly wriggled to undo the bonds that held him.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“There is nothing she would leave undone to prove it,” said I.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Jekyll was no worse; he woke again to his good qualities seemingly unimpaired; he would even make haste, where it was possible, to undo the evil done by Hyde.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But alas! how woefully he was undone! what crosses and sorrows happen to us all in this world!

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Bertrand, Bertrand! we are undone for the buds of her bud are even as our choicest flower!

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My cravat came undone in the street, and I actually walked from Carlton House to Watier’s in Bruton Street with the two ends hanging loose.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I should have fled in terror and left my work undone.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Once again I undid all my work by lowering the mast into the water.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

First of all, under our directions, he undid the rope from the tree-stump and threw one end of it across to us.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." (English proverb)

"The more you know, the less you need." (Aboriginal Australian proverbs)

"Meeting death is better than trying to ignore it." (Arabic proverb)

"Misery enjoys company." (Dutch proverb)



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