Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

task

1. task \'task\ n [ME taske, fr. ONF tasque, fr. ML tasca tax or service 
   impose]d by a feudal superior, fr. taxare to tax 1a: a usu. assigned piece 
   of work often to be finished within a certain tim e 1b: something hard or 
   unpleasant that has to be done  1c: DUTY, FUNCTION  2: REPRIMAND - used in 
   the expressions to take, call, (Xor bring to taskGNMENT mean a piece of 
   work to be done. TASK implies work imposed by a teacher or employer or by 
   circumstance; DUTY implies an obligation to perform or responsibility for 
   performance; JOB applies to a piece of work voluntarily performed; it may 
   sometimes suggest difficulty or importance; CHORE implies a minor routine 
   activity necessary for maintaining a home or farm or enterprise; STINT 
   implies a carefully allotted or measured quantity of assigned work or 
   service; ASSIGNMENT implies a definite limited task assigned by one in 
   authority SYN syn TASK, DUTY, JOB, CHORE, STINT, ASSI 
2. task vt obs  1: TAX  2: to assign a task to  3: to oppress with great 
   labor : BURDEN