undo

«undo» in Mova's school dictionary: to turn something back to how it was before — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (undo, undoes, undid, undone, undoing)

meaning for a pupil

1) To undo is to turn something back to how it was before. tree →

2) To undo is to open something that is tied or fastened, like a knot, a button or a zip. tree →

3) On a computer, Undo cancels the last thing you did. tree →

sense in the lessons

one operation reverses another: dividing undoes multiplying, adding undoes taking away; to find a starting amount, undo each change; phrases: «undo a knot», «undo a button», «press undo»

examples

• Dividing undoes multiplying: 3 × 4 = 12, so 12 ÷ 3 = 4. tree →
• Adding 5 undoes taking 5 away. tree →
• To find the start, undo each change. tree →
• Can you undo this knot in my shoelace? tree →
• Undo your top button if you feel hot. tree →
• Press undo to bring back the deleted word. tree →
• You cannot undo a mean word once it is said. tree →
• Subtracting 7 undoes adding 7. tree →
• But he could not undo the string. tree →

note

Past: undid; past participle: undone. Use the undoing operation to check an answer or to find a starting amount. Pairs that undo each other: + and −, × and ÷.

In the corpora

• Correcting a rumour you passed on helps undo the harm.
• Climbing on statues, monuments and museum displays leads to falls on hard floors and damage that cannot be undone.
• A sweet can't undo a sore head.
• Can it be undone easily?
• Good April jokes are silly and quick to undo.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «undo» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.