intake

SayIN-taykUS · UK/ˈɪnteɪk/AUS/ˈɪntæɪk/

10 meanings of intake

1
nouncountable or uncountable
The amount of something that is taken in, such as food or air.
Like adding up how much water you drink in one day.
Doctors told him to lower his salt intake.
Her daily water intake rose during the hot summer.
Similarconsumption, ingestion, input, uptake
Oppositeoutput, expenditure
Note
2
nouncountable or uncountable
An act of taking something in.
She took a sharp intake of breath when she saw the gift.
The tank's intake of water happens once every hour.
Similarinhalation, uptake, suction
Oppositeexhalation, discharge
3
nouncountable
The opening where water or air enters a pipe, not where it leaves.
Like the mouth of a straw, where the drink goes in.
The pump's intake was clogged with leaves.
Cold air enters the engine through the intake.
Similarinlet, mouth
Oppositeoutlet, exhaust
Note
4
nouncountable
The group of people accepted into a school or organization at one time.
Like a new class of students all starting school together.
This year's intake of students is the largest ever.
The army's new intake began training on Monday.
Similarcohort, class, batch, enrollment, entry
5
verbtransitive
To take or draw something in from outside.
Like a vacuum that pulls in air and dust.
Plants intake carbon dioxide through tiny pores.
The machines intake fresh air to cool the engines.
Similarabsorb, draw, inhale, ingest
Oppositeexpel, exhaust, emit, discharge
Note
6
nouncountable
The point where a tube or pipe starts to get narrower.
Like the part of a funnel where it starts to get thin.
Sediment collected at the intake, where the channel began to narrow.
He felt the resistance rise at the intake of the nozzle.
Similarnarrowing, constriction, contraction
7
noununcountable
The first step where workers check a young person who broke the law to decide what happens next.
Like a front desk that decides where each new person should go.
After his arrest, the teen went through intake at the youth center.
The counselor handled intake for every new case that week.
Similarscreening, assessment, processing
8
nouncountable
A piece of land that has been fenced or walled off.
Like a fenced yard cut out of a big open field.
The farmer fenced a new intake on the hillside.
Sheep grazed in the small intake above the village.
Similarenclosure, paddock, field
Note
9
nounslangderogatorycountable
A rude slang word for a nostril, especially a big one.
Quit poking around in your intake at the table.
His massive intakes whistled with every breath.
Similarnostril
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10
noundialectalUKcountable
A trick or cheat that fools someone.
Like a trap made to look like a gift.
The whole deal turned out to be a complete intake.
Don't trust him, that cheap offer is just an intake.
Similarcheat, swindle, trick, fraud, con
Note

Practice

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Origin

It comes from an old way of speaking in Northern England and Scotland. It was made from the words "take in."