task — OET · Shobdo

task

noun

he set himself the daunting task of writing a full-length book:

job, duty, chore, charge, labour, piece of work, piece of business, assignment, function, commission, mission, engagement, occupation, undertaking, exercise, business, responsibility, errand, detail, endeavour, enterprise, venture, quest, problem, burden.

□ take someone to task

he took some experts to task for their optimistic predictions:

rebuke, reprimand, reprove, reproach, remonstrate with, upbraid, scold, berate, lecture, castigate, censure, criticize, admonish, chide, chasten, lambast, nag, blame, arraign, call to account, haul over the coals, read someone the Riot Act;

informal tell off, give someone a dressing-down, give someone a talking-to;

British, informal tick off, carpet;

North American, informal bawl out, chew out.

▷antonyms praise, commend.

choose the right word

task, job, chore, duty

These words all apply to activities that people are obliged to do, whether they want to or not. See also work.

■ Task is the broadest term, meaning ‘a piece of work to be done’ (caring for dependent older people can be a daunting task | a new team manager was given the task of harnessing the club's talent).

■ A job is primarily the occupation by which someone earns their living, in the course of which they may regularly have to perform a number of tasks (Father landed a job as a technical engineer | 200 jobs are at risk). A single piece of work for which someone is paid may also be referred to as a job (the mechanic quoted him £50 for the job), as can the responsibility to do something (it's your job to know what's going on).

■ Chores are tedious routine tasks (help with everyday chores like shopping or housework) or tasks that are felt to be unpleasant but unavoidable (financial planning is seen as a nasty chore).

■ Duties are tasks that one has to do as part of one's job, especially continuing ones (your duties will include operating the switchboard). In the singular, duty is usually service performed because of legal or moral obligation (military duty | I came because I considered it to be my duty). It can also describe such a feeling of obligation itself (a sense of filial duty).

task Oxford Dictionary of English