Take definition
- To deal a blow to; strike or hit.The boxer took his opponent a sharp jab to the ribs.
- To delight or captivate.She was taken by the puppy.
- To catch or affect with a particular action.Your remark took me by surprise.
- To move into or assume occupancy of.She took a seat by the fireplace. The team took the field.
- To choose for one's own use; avail oneself of the use of.We took a room in the cheaper hotel.
- To require the use of (something).It takes money to live in this town. This camera takes 35-millimeter film.
- To use or require (time).It only takes a few minutes to wash the car.
- To use (something) as a means of conveyance or transportation.Take a train to Pittsburgh.
- To use (something) as a means of safety or refuge.Take shelter from the storm.
- To choose and then adopt (a particular route or direction) while on foot or while operating a vehicle.Take a right at the next corner. I downshifted to take the corner.
May I take your smile as an indication of approval?
- To accept (something owed, offered, or given) either reluctantly or willingly.Take a bribe.
- To allow to come in; give access or admission to; admit.The boat took a lot of water but remained afloat.
- To provide room for; accommodate.We can't take more than 100 guests.
- To become saturated or impregnated with (dye, for example).
- To submit to (something inflicted); undergo or suffer.Didn't take his punishment well.
- To put up with; endure or tolerate.I've had about all I can take from them.
- To receive into a particular relation or association, as into one's care or keeping.They plan to take a new partner into the firm. We took the dog for a week.
- To assume for oneself.Take all the credit.
- To agree to undertake or engage in (a task or duty, for example).She took the position of chair of the committee.
- (baseball) To refrain from swinging at (a pitched ball).
- To be affected with; catch.The child took the flu.
- To be hit or penetrated by.Took a lot of punches; took a bullet in the leg.
- To withstand.The dam took the heavy flood waters.
- To require or have as a fitting or proper accompaniment.Transitive verbs take a direct object.
Taken with a fit.
Taken in adultery.
The bus takes 20 riders.
To take a wife.
He took the first suit he tried on.
To take a cottage.
To take a daily newspaper.
To take a job.
The president took the chair.
To take a vow.
To take the blame, to take deductions.
You've really been taken.
Don't forget to take your umbrella.
This bus will take you to Dallas.
The guide took us to the waterfall.
The trail takes you to the lake.
Take a walk; take a decision.
Took a quick look at the sky; took a smell of the spices.
Take art lessons; take Spanish.
Took a degree in law.
I'll take your word that he's telling the truth.
Take a vow.
Take a stand on an issue; take an interest in local history.
We must take the bitter with the sweet. Take the matter as settled.
We take their number at 1,000.
I took a dislike to my neighbor's intrusions.
This book takes its title from the Bible.
Took the patient's temperature.
Take a letter; take notes.
Took a picture of us.
He took sick.
The invaders took and took, until they had everything.
When it comes to advice, you take but you never give.
The skin graft took.
Have the seeds taken?
The television series never took and was later canceled.
He took and threw the money in the river.
He got the answer on the third take.
The mayor was asked for her take on the judge's decision.
To take a bet, to take advice.
To take a book with one.
Cancer takes many lives.
To take two from ten.
To take a bus.
To take the old path.
Take a chair.
To take all day.
Take the scene in color.
What's your take on the new tax?
The day's take of fish.
- To support or carry without failing or breaking.That truck bed will only take two tons.
- Looks like it's gonna take a taller person to get that down. Finishing this on schedule will take a lot of overtime.
- To last or expend [an amount of time].I estimate the trip will take about ten minutes.
- (baseball) To not swing at a pitch.He'll probably take this one.
- (climbing) To tighten (take up) a belaying rope. Often used imperatively.
- To be the player who performs (a free kick, etc.).The kick is taken from where the foul occurred. Pirès ran in to take the kick. The throw-in is taken from the point where the ball crossed the touch-line.
- Not to refuse or balk at; to undertake readily; to clear.The pony took every hedge and fence in its path.
The rapist took his victims in dark alleys.
Don't try to take that guy. He's bigger than you.
Can he take a joke?
I'm not going to take your insults.
I'm not sure what moral to take from that story.
It's a take.
Act seven, scene three, take two.
I did a take when I saw the new car in the driveway.
- To grasp or grip.Take your partner's hand.
- To capture physically; seize.Take an enemy fortress.
- To seize with authority or legal right.The town took the land by eminent domain.
- To get possession of (fish or game, for example) by capturing or killing.
- (sports) To catch or receive (a ball or puck).The player took the pass on the fly.
- (sports & games) To acquire in a game or competition; win.Took the crown in horse racing.
- (sports & games) To defeat.Our team took the visitors three to one.
- To engage in sex with.
- To put (food or drink, for example) into the body; eat or drink.Took a little soup for dinner.
- To draw in; inhale.Took a deep breath.
- To expose one's body to (healthful or pleasurable treatment, for example).Take the sun; take the waters at a spa.
An example of take is making a photograph of a friend.
An example of take is having a drink of water from a cup.
An example of take is having a ride in a taxi to the airport.
- To remove with the hands or an instrument.I took the dishes from the sink. The dentist took two molars.
- To cause to die; kill or destroy.The blight took these tomatoes.
- To subtract.If you take 10 from 30, you get 20.
- To exact.The storm took its toll.
A transitive verb takes an object.
To take a mop to the floor.
To take cover.
To take a matter seriously.
It takes money; to take a size ten.
To take a joke in earnest.
The horse took the jump.
To take cold.
He took her to be a teacher.
Take pity, take notice.
To take a walk.
To take a jab at someone.
The path takes you to the river.
To take a friend to dinner.
The fire took rapidly.
The vaccination took; the dye takes well.
Nothing took from the scene's beauty.
She takes well in profile.
- To grasp with the hands.
- To pick up and move to oneself.I'll take that plate off the table.
- I'll take the plate with me.
- To lead; to conduct.Who's going to take the kids to school?.I took my girlfriend to the cinema.
- To choose.I'll take the blue plates.We took the road on the right.
- To accept.Do you take sugar in your coffee?.We take all major credit cards.
- (military) To gain a position by force.After a bloody battle, they were able to take the city.
- I take aspirin every day to thin my blood.
- The photographer took a picture of our family.
- (dated) To form a likeness of; to copy; to depict.To take (i.e. draw or paint) a picture of a person.
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXIII.Jesus perceaved there wylynes, and sayde: Why tempte ye me ye ypocrytes? lett me se the tribute money. And they toke hym a peny.
- To endure or cope with.I can take the noise, but I can't take the smell.
- Do you take me for a fool?.I take it you're not going?.Looking at him as he came into the room, I took him for his father.He was often taken to be a man of means.
- (intransitive) To become.They took ill within 3 hours. She took sick with the flu.
- To enroll (in a class, or a course of study).I plan to take math, physics, literature and flower arrangement this semester.
- To participate in, undergo, or experience.Aren't you supposed to take your math final today? When will you take your vacation? I had to take a pee.
- (intransitive) To habituate to or gain competency at a task.I take to swimming like a fish.
- To take a trip; to take aim.
- To take a dislike; to take pleasure.
- (reflexive) To go.
To take a verse from the Bible.
To take a poll, to take one's temperature.
To take an art course.
Take notes.
Take his fingerprints.
- To undergo.To take a beating.
- To withstand; endure; hold up against.A tire designed to take punishment; she can't take a joke.
Take a nap.
- Taking or seeking to take bribes or illegal income:
- To experience serious financial loss:
- To take into consideration.
- To detract from:Drab curtains took away from the otherwise lovely room.
- To be careful:Take care or you will slip on the ice.
- To assume responsibility for the maintenance, support, or treatment of.
- To assume control or command.
- To become operative, as under law or regulation:The curfew takes effect at midnight.
- To produce the desired reaction:The antibiotics at last began to take effect.
- To express opposition by argument; object to:Took exception to the prosecutor's line of questioning.
- To take a short rest or break, as of five or ten minutes.
- To consider as true, real, or forthcoming; anticipate correctly.
- To underestimate the value of:A publisher who took the editors for granted.
- To be confident or courageous.
- To seize, as by grasping.
- To become established:The newly planted vines quickly took hold.
- To understand; assume:As I take it, they won't accept the proposal.
- To endure abuse, criticism, or other harsh treatment:If you can dish it out, you've got to learn to take it.
- To endure punishment, suffering, or defeat.
- To accept or reject unconditionally.
- To abuse (someone) in venting one's own anger.
- To be receptive to:Take kindly to constructive criticism.
- To be naturally attracted or fitted to; thrive on.
- To submit to harsh treatment with no resistance:Refused to take the snub lying down.
- To pay attention to.
- To put into a state of awe or shock.
- To act slowly or at one's leisure.
- To happen; occur.
- To become established or fixed.
- To become rooted.
- To take on a distinctive form.
- To become ill.
- To associate with and support a particular faction, group, cause, or person.
- To take an inventory.
- To make an estimate or appraisal, as of resources or of oneself.
- To trust, believe in, or attach importance to.
- To become a judge.
- To preside in court:The judge took the bench to hear the plaintiff's motion.
- To be the most outrageous or disappointing.
- To win the prize; be outstanding.
- To be defeated.
- To be counted out in boxing.
- To incur blame or censure, either willingly or unwillingly:A senior official who took the fall for the failed intelligence operation.
- To rise to deliver a formal speech, as to an assembly.
- To incur and endure heavy censure or criticism:Had a reputation for being able to take the heat in a crisis.
- To take all the money or possessions of, especially by outsmarting or swindling.
- To support (a person or group, for example) in an argument.
- To join in a dispute, especially in defense of a participant.
- To begin to associate with; consort with:Took up with a fast crowd.
- willing or seeking to take bribes or illicit income
- to resemble (a parent, etc.) in some way
- to run after or pursue
- to attend a business conference
- to be wrong concerning; mistake
- to misunderstand the reason behind (an act), esp. so as to become offended
- to regain use or possession of
- to retract (something said, promised, etc.)
- to return (something), as to be exchanged
- to remove from a higher place and put in a lower one; pull down
- to unfasten; take apart
- to make less conceited; humble
- to put in writing; record
- take a break for five (or ten, etc.) minutes, as from working
- to consider to be; regard as
- to mistake for
- to take effect or become firmly establishedThe new fad took hold quickly.
- to seize; grasp
- to become ill (or sick)
- to admit; receive
- to reef or furl (a sail)
- to make smaller or more compact
- to include; comprise
- to understand; comprehend
- to cheat; trick; deceive
- to visit, see, experience, etc.To take in all the sights.
- to receive into one's home for payTo take in boarders.
- to suppose; believe
- to withstand difficulty, criticism, hardship, ridicule, etc.
- accept it or not
- to exhaust; tire
- to obtain payment or satisfaction from
- to make (another) suffer for one's own anger, irritation, bad temper, etc.
- to remove (a garment, etc.)
- to draw or conduct away
- to deduct; subtract
- to kill
- to make a copy or likeness of
- to leave the ground or water in flight
- to start
- to imitate in a burlesque manner; parody
- to become very popular and successful
- to rob
- to run after or pursue
- to acquire; assume (form, quality, etc.)
- to employ; hire
- to begin to do (a task, etc.); undertake
- to compete or play against; oppose
- to show violent emotion, especially anger or sorrow
- to be slow or unhurried; delay
- to obtain by application to the proper authority
- to escort, as on a date
- to kill; specif., to assassinate
- to assume control or possession of
- to develop a habit or practice of doing, using, etc.
- to apply oneself to (one's studies, work, etc.)
- to become fond of; care for; be attracted to
- to raise; lift
- to make tighter or shorter
- to pay off; recover by buying (a mortgage, note, etc.)
- to absorb (a liquid)
- to assume protection or custody of
- to interrupt in disapproval or rebuke
- to resume (something interrupted)
- to occupy or fill (space or time)
- to take the responsibility for; accept as a charge
- to begin (to do something)
- to become a friend or companion of
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of take
- Middle English taken from Old English tacan from Old Norse taka
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English taken (“to take, lay hold of, grasp, strike"), from Old English tacan (“to grasp, touch"), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse taka (“to touch, take"), from Proto-Germanic *tÄ“kanÄ… (“to touch"), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₁g-, *dh₁g- (“to touch"). Gradually displaced Middle English nimen (“to take"), from Old English niman (“to take"). Cognate with Icelandic taka (“to take"), Danish tage (“to take, seize"), Middle Dutch taken (“to grasp"), Middle Low German tacken (“to grasp"). See tackle.
From Wiktionary