Definition of 'task'
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense tasks
, present participle tasking
, past tense, past participle tasked
1. countable noun
A task is an activity or piece of work which you have to do, usually as part of a larger project.
2. verb
If you are tasked with doing a particular activity or piece of work, someone in authority asks you to do it.
3.
See take sb to task
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
task in British English
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
tasker (ˈtasker) noun
taskless (ˈtaskless)
adjective
Word origin
C13: from Old French tasche, from Medieval Latin tasca, from taxa tax, from Latin taxāre to taxWord Frequency
task in American English
verb transitive
4.
to assign a task to; require or demand a piece of work of
Idioms:
SYNONYMY NOTE: task refers to a piece of work assigned to or demanded of someone, as by another person,
by duty, etc., and usually implies that this is difficult or arduous work [he has the task of answering letters]; chore applies to any of the routine domestic activities for which one is responsible [his chore is washing the dishes]; stint1 refers to a task that is one's share of the work done by a group and usually connotes
a minimum to be completed in the allotted time [we've all done our daily stint]; assignment applies to a specific, prescribed task allotted by someone in authority [classroom assignments]; job1, in this connection, refers to a specific piece of work, as in one's trade or as
voluntarily undertaken for pay [the job of painting our house]Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME taske < NormFr tasque (OFr tasche) < ML tasca, for taxa, a tax < L taxare, to rate, value, taxWord Frequency
task in American English
(tæsk, tɑːsk)
adjective
SYNONYMS 1, 2. job, assignment. task, chore, job, assignment refer to a definite and specific instance or act of work. task and chore and, to a lesser extent, job often imply work that is tiresome, arduous, or otherwise unpleasant. task usually refers to a clearly defined piece of work, sometimes of short or limited
duration, assigned to or expected of a person: the task of pacifying angry customers; a difficult, time-consuming task. A chore is a minor task, usually one of several performed as part of a routine, as in farming,
and often more tedious than difficult: the daily chore of taking out the garbage; early morning chores of feeding the livestock. job is the most general of these terms, referring to almost any work or responsibility,
including a person’s means of earning a living: the job of washing the windows; a well-paying job in advertising. assignment refers to a specific task allocated to a person by someone in a position of authority:
a homework assignment; a reporter's assignment to cover international news. Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
taskless adjective
Word origin
[1250–1300; ME (n.) ‹ ML tasca, metathetic var. of taxa tax]Examples of 'task' in a sentence
task
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In other languages
task
British English: task
/tɑːsk/ NOUN
A task is an activity or piece of work which you have to do.
I had the unpleasant task of breaking the bad news to my colleague.
- American English: task /ˈtæsk/
- Arabic: مُهِمَّة
- Brazilian Portuguese: tarefa
- Chinese: 任务
- Croatian: zadatak
- Czech: úkol
- Danish: opgave
- Dutch: taak
- European Spanish: tarea
- Finnish: tehtävä
- French: tâche
- German: Aufgabe
- Greek: έργο αποστολή
- Italian: compito
- Japanese: 任務
- Korean: 과제
- Norwegian: oppgave
- Polish: zadanie
- European Portuguese: tarefa
- Romanian: sarcinăde lucru
- Russian: задание
- Latin American Spanish: tarea
- Swedish: uppgift
- Thai: ภารกิจ
- Turkish: görev
- Ukrainian: завдання
- Vietnamese: nhiệm vụ
British English: task
VERB /tɑːsk/
If you are tasked with doing a particular activity or piece of work, someone in authority asks you to do it.
The minister was tasked with checking that aid money was being spent wisely.
- American English: task /ˈtæsk/
- Brazilian Portuguese: incumbir
- Chinese: 委派任务 给…
- European Spanish: encomendar
- French: charger
- German: beauftragt
- Italian: incaricare
- Japanese: 仕事を課す
- Korean: 일이 주어지다
- European Portuguese: incumbir
- Latin American Spanish: encomendar
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Definition of task from the Collins English Dictionary
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