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take to task

 - 5 dictionary results

task

  [task, tahsk]
Use take to task in a Sentence
–noun
1. a definite piece of work assigned to, falling to, or expected of a person; duty.
2. any piece of work.
3. a matter of considerable labor or difficulty.
4. Obsolete. a tax or impost.
–verb (used with object)
5. to subject to severe or excessive labor or exertion; put a strain upon (powers, resources, etc.).
6. to impose a task on.
7. Obsolete. to tax.
–adjective
8. of or pertaining to a task or tasks: A task chart will help organize the department's work.
—Idiom
9. take to task, to call to account; blame; censure: The teacher took them to task for not doing their homework.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME (n.) < ML tasca, metathetic var. of taxa tax

Related forms:
taskless, 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To take to task
task   (tāsk)   
n.  

  1. A piece of work assigned or done as part of one's duties.

  2. A difficult or tedious undertaking.

  3. A function to be performed; an objective.

tr.v.   tasked, task·ing, tasks

  1. To assign a task to or impose a task on.

  2. To overburden with labor; tax.


[Middle English taske, imposed work, tax, from Old North French tasque, from Vulgar Latin *tasca, alteration of *taxa, from Latin taxāre, to feel, reproach, reckon; see tax.]
Synonyms: These nouns denote a piece of work that one must do. A task is a well-defined responsibility that is usually imposed by another and that may be burdensome: I stayed at work late to finish the task at hand.
Job often suggests a specific short-term undertaking: "did little jobs about the house with skill" (W.H. Auden).
Chore generally denotes a minor, routine, or odd job: The farmer's morning chores included milking the cows.
Stint refers to a person's prescribed share of work: Her stint as a lifeguard usually consumes three hours a day.
Assignment generally denotes a task allotted by a person in authority: His homework assignment involved writing an essay.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

task 
c.1300, "piece of work imposed as a duty," from O.N.Fr. tasque (13c., O.Fr. tasche, Fr. tâche) "duty, tax," from V.L. *tasca "a duty, assessment," metathesis of M.L. taxa, a back-formation of L. taxare "to evaluate, estimate, assess" (see tax). General sense of "any piece of work that has to be done" is first recorded 1593. Verb "to put a strain upon" is from 1598. Phrase take one to task (1682) preserves the sense that is closer to tax. Ger. tasche "pocket" is from the same V.L. source (via O.H.G. tasca), with presumable sense evolution from "amount of work imposed by some authority," to "payment for that work," to "wages," to "pocket into which money is put," to "any pocket." Task force is attested from 1941, originally military; taskmaster is from 1530.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: task
Pronunciation: 'task
Function: noun
: the performance that is required of the subject in a psychological experiment or test and that isusually communicated to a human subject by verbal instructions
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

take to task

Upbraid, scold; blame or censure. For example, The teacher took Doris to task for turning in such a sloppy report. This term, dating from the mid-1700s, at first meant either assigning or challenging someone to a task. Its current sense dates from the late 1800s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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