English Dictionary |
UNDO (undid, undone)
Pronunciation (US): | ![]() | (GB): | ![]() |
IPA (US): | ![]() |
Dictionary entry overview: What does undo mean?
• UNDO (verb)
The verb UNDO has 5 senses:
1. cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect
2. deprive of certain characteristics
3. cause the ruin or downfall of
5. remove the outer cover or wrapping of
Familiarity information: UNDO used as a verb is common.
Dictionary entry details
Conjugation: |
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Past simple: undid
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Past participle: undone
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-ing form: undoing
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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:
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)
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