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Meaning of assignment in English

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  • It was a jammy assignment - more of a holiday really.
  • He took this award-winning photograph while on assignment in the Middle East .
  • His two-year assignment to the Mexico office starts in September .
  • She first visited Norway on assignment for the winter Olympics ten years ago.
  • He fell in love with the area after being there on assignment for National Geographic in the 1950s.
  • act as something phrasal verb
  • all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy) idiom
  • be at work idiom
  • be in work idiom
  • housekeeping
  • in the line of duty idiom
  • undertaking

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

assignment | American Dictionary

Assignment | business english, examples of assignment, collocations with assignment.

These are words often used in combination with assignment .

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Translations of assignment

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what is the meaning of on assignment

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  • on assignment
  • American    Noun
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All resources related to 'assignment'

Definitions of 'assignment', pronunciation of 'assignment'.

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English usage

Synonyms of 'assignment', collocations with the word 'assignment', examples of 'assignment'  in a sentence, translations of 'assignment', 'assignment' in other languages.

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Definition of assignment noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

  • Students are required to complete all homework assignments.
  • You will need to complete three written assignments per semester.
  • a business/special assignment
  • I had set myself a tough assignment.
  • on an assignment She is in Greece on an assignment for a media company.
  • on assignment one of our reporters on assignment in China
  • The students handed in their assignments.
  • The teacher gave us an assignment on pollution.
  • Why did you take on this assignment if you're so busy?
  • He refused to accept the assignment.
  • assignment on

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what is the meaning of on assignment

Synonym Study

Example sentences.

Yariel Valdés González and I faced these challenges while on assignment in South Florida and the Deep South from July 21-Aug.

They’re putting time into decoration just as they would in their physical classroom, and students can interact with the space by, say, clicking on a bookshelf to get a reading assignment.

For now, if the district moves to in-person learning, instruction in Carlsbad will take place on campus five days per week and students may engage in additional independent practices and other assignments at home.

The assignments must also respect the relationships between the elements in the group.

It’s very hard, by the way, to do real random assignment studies of couples therapy.

His most recent assignment was the 84th Precinct, at the Brooklyn end of the Brooklyn Bridge.

When Lewis was shipped off to Vietnam, his son was just three months old, and the timing of the assignment worried Lewis.

When Vial got that first assignment, she was just beginning her photography career, and Cirque du Soleil was only a few years old.

“For our winter issue, we gave ourselves one assignment: Break The Internet,” wrote Paper.

By the 1950s the rapid assignment of gender to an ambiguously gendered infant had become standard.

Consent to an assignment may be given by the president of the company, without formal vote by the directors.

A transfer by the lessee of the whole or a part of his interest for a part of the time is a sublease and not an assignment.

An assignment to one who has an insurable interest as relative, creditor and the like, is always valid.

When an assignment of it is made, the assignee may sue in his own name for rent accruing after the assignment.

In some states statutes forbid the assignment of such policies for the benefit of creditors.

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Definition of assign

 (Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

Definition of assign  (Entry 2 of 2)

  • intrust

ascribe , attribute , assign , impute , credit mean to lay something to the account of a person or thing.

ascribe suggests an inferring or conjecturing of cause, quality, authorship.

attribute suggests less tentativeness than ascribe , less definiteness than assign .

assign implies ascribing with certainty or after deliberation.

impute suggests ascribing something that brings discredit by way of accusation or blame.

credit implies ascribing a thing or especially an action to a person or other thing as its agent, source, or explanation.

Examples of assign in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'assign.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Verb and Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French assigner , from Latin assignare , from ad- + signare to mark, from signum mark, sign

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing assign

  • pre - assign

Dictionary Entries Near assign

Cite this entry.

“Assign.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assign. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of assign, legal definition, legal definition of assign.

Legal Definition of assign  (Entry 2 of 2)

More from Merriam-Webster on assign

Nglish: Translation of assign for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of assign for Arabic Speakers

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COMMENTS

  1. ON ASSIGNMENT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

    Someone who is on assignment is doing a particular job or piece of work, usually in a particular place where they have been sent for a period of time: Both journalists were killed while on assignment in the region. He was on assignment for the New Yorker, where he was a photographer.

  2. ASSIGNMENT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

    the act of giving something that belongs to you, such as a property or a financial agreement, to somebody else: The Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment. The assignment of a legal lease must be in the form of a deed to be effective. on assignment.

  3. Assignment Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

    The meaning of ASSIGNMENT is the act of assigning something. How to use assignment in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Assignment.

  4. assignment | meaning of assignment in Longman Dictionary of ...

    From Longman Business Dictionary as‧sign‧ment /əˈsaɪnmənt/ noun 1 [countable] a piece of work that someone is given My assignment was to save the company, whatever it took. 2 [uncountable] when someone is given a particular job or task, or sent to work in a particular place or for a particular person With the agreement, GM got more ...

  5. ASSIGNMENT definition in American English | Collins English ...

    noun. 1. something assigned, as a particular task or duty. She completed the assignment and went on to other jobs. 2. a position of responsibility, post of duty, or the like, to which one is appointed. He left for his assignment in the Middle East. 3. an act of assigning; appointment.

  6. ASSIGNMENT - All you need to know about it | Collins English ...

    An assignment is a piece of work that you are given to do, as part of your job or studies.

  7. assignment noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and ...

    [countable] a task or piece of work that somebody is given to do, usually as part of their job or studies. Students are required to complete all homework assignments. You will need to complete three written assignments per semester. a business/special assignment. I had set myself a tough assignment.

  8. Assignment - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com

    An assignment is a task that someone in authority has asked you to do. The word assignment is just the noun form of the common verb assign , which you use when you want to give someone a duty or a job.

  9. ASSIGNMENT Definition & Meaning - Dictionary.com

    Assignment definition: something assigned, as a particular task or duty. See examples of ASSIGNMENT used in a sentence.

  10. Assign Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

    The meaning of ASSIGN is to transfer (property) to another especially in trust or for the benefit of creditors. How to use assign in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Assign.