Link Centre Dictionary

undo

UK/ʌnˈduː/ US/ʌˈndu/ fairly common

verb

1.

cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect

  • “I wish I could undo my actions”
2.

deprive of certain characteristics

Synonyms
Antonyms
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”
Synonyms
5.

remove the outer cover or wrapping of

  • “Let”
  • “;”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From Middle English undōn, from Old English ondōn, from Proto-West Germanic *andadōn (“to undo”), equivalent to un- + do. Cognate with West Frisian ûndwaan, ûntdwaan (“to undo; rid”), Dutch ontdoen (“to undo”).

Phrases

  • what's done cannot be undone

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.