Adjacent Words

Undo definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

UNDO, v.t. pret. undid; pp. undone.
1. To reverse what has been done; to annul; to bring to naught any transaction. We can undo many kinds of work; but we cannot undo crimes, errors or faults.
Tomorrow ere the setting sun, she'd all undo what she had done.
2. To loose; to open; to take to pieces; to unravel; to unfasten; to untie; as, to undo a knot.
3. To ruin; to bring to poverty; to impoverish. Many are undone by unavoidable losses; but more undo themselves by vices and dissipation, or by indolence.
4. To ruin, in a moral sense; to bring to everlasting destruction and misery.
5. To ruin in reputation.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect; "I wish I could undo my actions"
2: deprive of certain characteristics [syn: unmake, undo] [ant: do, make]
3: cause the ruin or downfall of; "A single mistake undid the President and he had to resign"
4: cause to become loose; "undo the shoelace"; "untie the knot"; "loosen the necktie" [syn: untie, undo, loosen]
5: remove the outer cover or wrapping of; "Let's unwrap the gifts!"; "undo the parcel" [syn: unwrap, undo] [ant: wrap, wrap up]

Merriam Webster's

verb (undid; undone; undoing) Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to open or loose by releasing a fastening 2. to make of no effect or as if not done ; make null ; reverse 3. a. to ruin the worldly means, reputation, or hopes of <a politician undone by scandal> b. to disturb the composure of ; upset <she's come undone> c. seduce 3 intransitive verb to come open or apart • undoer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (3rd sing. present -does; past -did; past part. -done) 1 a unfasten or untie (a coat, button, parcel, etc.). b unfasten the clothing of (a person). 2 annul, cancel (cannot undo the past). 3 ruin the prospects, reputation, or morals of. Etymology: OE undon (as UN-(2), DO(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Undo Un*do", v. t. [AS. und?n. See 1st Un-, and Do to perform.] 1. To reverse, as what has been done; to annul; to bring to naught. What's done can not be undone. --Shak. To-morrow, ere the setting sun, She 'd all undo that she had done. --Swift. 2. 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. --Tennyson. Pray you, undo this button. --Shak. She took the spindle, and undoing the thread gradually, measured it. --Sir W. Scott. 3. 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. That quaffing and drinking will undo you, --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(undoes, undoing, undid, undone) 1. If you undo something that is closed, tied, or held together, or if you undo the thing holding it, you loosen or remove the thing holding it. I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel... Some clamps that had held the device together came undone. VERB: V n, V-ed 2. To undo something that has been done means to reverse its effect. She knew it would be difficult to undo the damage that had been done... If Michael won, he would undo everything I have fought for. VERB: V n, V n 3. see also undoing, undone

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Annul, invalidate, reverse, neutralize, nullify, frustrate, bring to naught. 2. Loose, unfasten, untie, disengage, open, unfold, disentangle, unravel. 3. Ruin, destroy. 4. Impoverish, bring to poverty.

Moby Thesaurus

KO, abate, abolish, abrogate, annihilate, annul, answer, atomize, bare, beat, beat all hollow, beat hollow, best, bottom, break to pieces, bring down, bring to naught, bring to nothing, buffer, cancel, cancel out, cast off, clear, clear up, cleave, come to nothing, cook, counterbalance, crack, crush, dash, debauch, debug, decimate, decipher, decode, defeat, demolish, demoralize, deobstruct, destroy, detach, disassemble, disclose, disengage, disentangle, dish, disintegrate, dismantle, divine, do, do for, do in, doff, dope, dope out, douse, drop, drub, explain, expose, fathom, figure out, find out, find the answer, find the solution, fix, fragment, free, frustrate, get, get right, guess, guess right, have, have it, hide, hit it, hors de combat, interpret, invalidate, knock down, knock out, lambaste, lather, liberate, lick, loose, loosen, make mincemeat of, make out, manifest, negate, negativate, negative, neutralize, nullify, offset, ope, open, open the lock, outclass, outdo, outfight, outfox, outgeneral, outmaneuver, outpoint, outreach, outrun, outsail, outshine, outsmart, overcome, overreach, patefy, pick to pieces, plumb, prostrate, psych, psych out, pull in pieces, pull to pieces, pulverize, put, put off, puzzle out, quash, ravel, ravel out, raze, reduce to rubble, release, remove, rend, repeal, rescind, resolve, reveal, reverse, revoke, riddle, ruin, scuttle, settle, shake, shatter, shoot down, sink, skin, skin alive, slip out of, smash, solve, sort out, split, step out of, stultify, sunder, take apart, take off, tear apart, tear to pieces, tear to shreds, tear to tatters, thrash, throw off, thwart, torpedo, total, trim, triumph over, trounce, unbar, unbind, unblock, unbolt, unbrace, unbuckle, unbuild, unbutton, uncase, unchain, unclasp, unclench, unclog, unclutch, uncork, uncover, uncurtain, undrape, unfasten, unfetter, unfold, unfoul, unglue, unhook, unlace, unlatch, unleash, unlock, unloose, unloosen, unmake, unman, unnerve, unplug, unravel, unriddle, unroll, unscramble, unseal, unsheathe, unshut, unsnap, unstick, unstop, unstrap, unstring, untangle, untie, untwist, unveil, unweave, unwrap, unzip, upset, vitiate, void, weigh anchor, whip, work, work out, worst, wrack, wrack up, wreck