From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) :
task
n 1: any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted; "he
prepared for great undertakings" [syn: undertaking,
project, task, labor]
2: a specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for
a specific fee; "estimates of the city's loss on that job
ranged as high as a million dollars"; "the job of repairing
the engine took several hours"; "the endless task of
classifying the samples"; "the farmer's morning chores" [syn:
job, task, chore]
v 1: assign a task to; "I tasked him with looking after the
children"
2: use to the limit; "you are taxing my patience" [syn: tax,
task]