verb / noun
undo
un-DOO/ʌnˈduː/
To reverse the effect of an earlier action.
Two hands undo a tight knot in a shoelace.
Etymology
The reversal prefix turns doing into restoring an earlier condition. This includes both cancelling an action's effects and releasing something fastened; both uses were already present in Old English.
In context
until the new habit is fixed else you undo all that has been accomplished by previous efforts
More examples
- An apology cannot undo the harm those words caused.
- He undoes the changes before saving the file.
- A quick undo restores the paragraph I accidentally deleted.
Forms
undo · undoes · undid · undone · undoing · undos