project

A planned endeavor, usually with a specific goal and accomplished in several steps or stages.

Noun

  1. A planned endeavor, usually with a specific goal and accomplished in several steps or stages.
    • projects of happiness devised by human reason - a. 1729, John Rogers, The Greatness of the Gospel Salvation:
    • Rainbow, […]came forward enthusiastically to put its money into the project in sums which ran all the way from one share at ten dollars to ten shares - 1924, Clarence Budington Kelland, The Steadfast Heart/Chapter 22:
    • The proposal with China would involve a project to create artificial rain. - 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)

    Synonyms: plan blueprint design plot project proposal scheme

  2. An urban, low-income housing building.
    • Projects like Pruitt-Igoe were considered irreparably dangerous and demolished.
    • Experiments when needles and skin connect / No wonder where we live is called the projects - 1996, “Stakes is High”, in Stakes Is High, performed by De La Soul:
    • Imagine rock up in them projects / Where them niggas pick your pockets - 2012, “Money Trees”, in Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, performed by Kendrick Lamar ft. Jay Rock:

    Synonyms: council estate scheme

  3. An idle scheme; an impracticable design.
    • a man given to projects

    Synonyms: Tower of Babel

  4. A raw recruit who the team hopes will improve greatly with coaching; a long shot, diamond in the rough.
    • Sakho was seen as no-frills, whereas Maiga was a project who could develop into the next big thing. - 2014 October 27, Gabriele Marcotti, “Ancelotti triumphs, van Gaal's progress, Dortmund disappoint, more”, in ESPN FC:
    • Elway acknowledged at the time that Lynch was a project who needed some seasoning but he expressed hope that Lynch might be a quick study. He wasn't. - 2018 September 2, Arnie Melendrez Stapleton, “Broncos cut ties with...
  5. A projectile.

    Synonyms: missile

  6. A projection.

    Synonyms: protuberance protrusion

Origin

From Latin prōiectus, perfect passive participle of prōiciō (“throw forth, extend; expel”). Compare typologically Russian прики́дывать (prikídyvatʹ), прики́дка (prikídka) (akin to кида́ть (kidátʹ)); набро́сок (nabrósok) (akin to броса́ть (brosátʹ)).

Forms

projects

Hyponyms

pilot project subproject Web project

Derived

astral-project astroproject bioproject capstone project collaborative project management counterproject deproject European project final year project ghost project housing project interproject macroproject megaproject microproject midproject multiproject new country project new nation project projectability projectable project accounting project-based learning project box

Verb

  1. To extend beyond a surface.

    Synonyms: extend jut protrude stick out

  2. To cast (an image or shadow) upon a surface; to throw or cast forward; to shoot forth.
    • Before his feet her selfe she did proiect - 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 45:
    • Behold! th' ascending villas on my side / Project long shadows o'er the crystal tide. - 1713, [Alexander] Pope, Windsor-Forest. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:

    Synonyms: cast throw bung chuck chunk cook dash dump feck fling jerk heave hield hoy huck hurl hurtle launch lob peck peg pick pitch precipitate

  3. To extend (a protrusion or appendage) outward.

    Synonyms: extend jut jut out exsert

  4. To make plans for; to forecast.
    • The CEO is projecting the completion of the acquisition by April 2007.
    • To form a strict alliance between the cabinets of Paris and London—which meant, that he should influence both,—to induce Charles to marry the loveliest of his nieces, Hortense—thus making a common interest between them,...
    • projecting Peace and Warr? - 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC;...

    Synonyms: forecast foresee foretell

  5. To present (oneself), to convey a certain impression, usually in a good way.
    • It is difficult to gauge the exact point at which women stop trying to fool men and really begin to deceive themselves, but an objective analyst cannot escape the conclusion (1) that partly from a natural device...
  6. To assume qualities or mindsets in others based on one's own personality.
  7. To change the projection (or coordinate system) of spatial data with another projection.
  8. To draw straight lines from a fixed point through every point of any body or figure, and let these fall upon a surface so as to form the points of a new figure.
  9. to have axon(s) extending to and therefore able to influence a remote location
  10. To cause (one's voice or words) to be heard at a great distance.
    • to project one's voice
  11. To speak or sing in such a way that one can be heard at a great distance.
    • You would think that topic coulda put me to sleep, but HE can really project when HE wants to. - 2016, Sam Esmail, Courtney Looney, Mr. Robot: Red Wheelbarrow: eps1.91_redwheelbarr0w.txt, Abrams Books, New York City,...
  12. To extend to reach a point.
    • When a word occurs only in Indo-European languages of northern or western Europe, for instance, projecting that word back to Proto-Indo-European is considered dubious. - 2025, Cid Swanenvleugel, The Pre-Roman Elements...

Forms

projects projecting projected

Related

extrapolate

Derived

misproject projective