DictionaryAI

take

SayTAYK/teɪk//tæɪk/

Formstakes, taking, took, taken

Often confused with bring

93 meanings of take

Practice

  1. 1
    gain possessionverbtransitive
    To obtain something by force or other means so that you hold it, possess it, or have control over it.

    Take what you need and leave the rest.

    The rebels took control of the radio station.

    UsageOften used in take control of or take possession of, or with by force.

    Similarseize, confiscate

    Oppositegive

    Note

    Seize and confiscate push the meaning toward force, but take itself stays neutral. It covers a plate lifted off a table as easily as a gun pulled from a dead man's hands.

  2. 2
    carry alongverbtransitive
    To carry, lead, or transport someone or something with you from one place to another.

    Take an umbrella, it looks like rain.

    He took the dog with him to the office.

    UsageTake usually moves away from the speaker, bring toward the speaker or listener: take this to Mum, then bring it back.

    Similarbring, carry

    Oppositeleave

  3. 3
    do (action)verbtransitive
    To do, carry out, or go through the action named by the following noun, such as a breath, a bath, or a decision.

    She took a deep breath and began.

    We need to take measures before winter.

    UsageFixed pairs: take a walk, take a shower, take a break, take steps to; take aim has no article.

    Note

    Here the noun does the work, and take simply marks the action as done: take a walk, take a trip, take aim.

  4. 4
    time neededverbtransitive
    To need or require a particular amount of time, effort, money, or quality in order to happen or be done.

    It takes years to learn the violin well.

    How long did the drive take?

    UsageTwo patterns: the trip takes an hour, or it takes (us) an hour to get there.

    Similarrequire, need

  5. 5
    remove (from place)verbtransitive
    To remove something from a place or from someone.

    Take the pan off the heat and let it cool.

    She took the picture down from the wall.

    UsageOften used with a particle or preposition: take it off the heat, take a book from the shelf, take a picture down.

    Similarremove

    Oppositeput

    Note

    Older prose also has take forth, as when the grease worked into wool must be taken forth out of the finished cloth before it can be worn. The object can be abstract too, such as a right taken from a people. Applied to numbers, this becomes the arithmetic sense.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Older prose uses 'taken forth' for removing grease or oil from cloth made from previously greased wool. en.wiktionary.org
  6. 6
    travel byverbtransitive
    To travel by a particular vehicle or means of transport.

    We can take the subway or walk.

    She takes the same train every morning.

    UsageCommon combinations are take the bus, take a taxi, and take the stairs.

    Similarcatch, ride, use

    Note

    A passenger's verb: you take a ferry, a plane, the bus. The vehicle is the object even though it does the carrying, the reverse of the bus takes you. Stairs fit the same pattern when they are chosen as a way of getting up or down, as in he's 96 but he still takes the stairs.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • The sentence about a 96-year-old taking the stairs occurs as an illustrative usage example. en.wiktionary.org
  7. 7
    use (drugs)verbtransitive
    To ingest a medicine or drug, by swallowing, inhaling, or otherwise.

    Take one tablet with food twice a day.

    He took something at the party and felt ill.

    UsageTaking drugs, with no name given, suggests illegal drugs; for medicine, name it: take two tablets.

    Similarswallow, ingest

    Note

    With a dose as the object, take covers swallowing, inhaling and any other route into the body. Doctors use it for instructions, as in take two of these.

  8. 8
    photographverbtransitive
    To capture something in a photograph, on film, or in another kind of reproduction.

    We took hundreds of photos on the trip.

    This camera can take sharp photos even at night.

    UsageThe usual verb for photos: take a photo, take someone's picture.

    Similarshoot, snap, capture

    Note

    The camera inherited an old verb of grasping: what is photographed is caught and kept. The thing caught need not be a picture. A video counts, and so do fingerprints, so the sense covers any record made directly from its subject. A film set's single uninterrupted take is one such capture, counted as a noun, and the sense of measuring applies the same move to a reading rather than an image.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • The photographic use of take continues an older verb meaning to grasp. en.wiktionary.org
  9. 9
    verbtransitive
    To assume a job, office, or position and begin carrying out its duties.

    The prince took the throne at the age of nineteen.

    Many retired officers take jobs with private security firms.

    UsageTake office has no article; take the throne has one.

    Similarassume, accept

    Note

    Two set phrases anchor this meaning: take office, with no article, and take the throne, with one. Both mark the moment someone steps into a position, a starting point rather than the time spent there. Ordinary work uses the same verb with a job as the object.

  10. 10
    handle (task)verbtransitive
    To deal with or handle something, such as a situation or a task.

    The committee will take the budget items in order, starting with salaries.

    After the move, she took problems as they arose instead of planning for every one.

    Similarhandle, tackle, address

  11. 11
    verbtransitive
    To make use of something that is available, especially an opportunity, and turn it to one's advantage.

    Investors who take the opportunity to buy during a dip often do well.

    She took the opportunity of a quiet afternoon to call her mother.

    UsageMostly with opportunity or chance, often + to: she took the opportunity to call home.

    Similarseize, use, grab

    Oppositemiss

  12. 12
    accept what's givenverbtransitive
    To accept or receive something that is offered or given, such as money, a gift, or advice.

    He was accused of taking bribes.

    Do they take credit cards here?

    UsageCommon with payment and advice: do you take cards? take my advice.

    Similaraccept, receive

    Oppositerefuse, reject, decline

    Note

    The open-handed side of the verb, with give as its natural opposite. What is taken can be honorable or not: a third place, a bribe. The sense also stretches to machines. A camera that takes 35mm film is built to accept it, and there is no will involved at all.

  13. 13
    verbtransitive
    To seize or capture.

    The fortress was taken in a single night.

    The rebels hope to take the airport by dawn.

    UsageTake someone prisoner puts prisoner after the person, with no article.

    Similarseize, confiscate

    Note

    You can take prisoners, or take someone prisoner, with prisoner placed after the object as its new status. Cities and forts are taken the same way, and Marlowe already sets take beside slaughter as the two ways to deal with an enemy. Here the general sense of getting hold leans fully toward force.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Marlowe juxtaposes taking and slaughtering an enemy in Tamburlaine the Great, Part I, Act II, Scene II; the character speaking is Meander. gutenberg.org
  14. 14
    consider (example)verbtransitive
    To think of something in a particular way, or to treat it as an example of the point being made.

    The city has a housing problem; take downtown rents, which rose sharply again this year.

    Taken together, the results suggest the new treatment works.

    UsageOpens a sentence to give an example: take London, for example. Taken together means considered as a whole.

    Similarconsider

  15. 15
    studyverbtransitive
    To study, now chiefly by enrolling in a class or course.

    He's taking French at night school.

    Which courses did you take in your first year?

    UsageSchool subjects take no article: take French, take math, take a course in art.

    Similarstudy, do

  16. 16
    pick (an option)verbtransitive
    To choose, select, or pick.

    We'll take the room with the sea view.

    She took the smaller slice and left me the big one.

    UsageIn shops, I'll take + item orders or buys it: I'll take the blue one.

    Similarchoose, pick, select

    Oppositereject

    Note

    In shops and cafés this is the verb of ordering: I'll take the blue plates, I'll take two sugars. I'll take states a choice and a purchase in one breath. Outside such settings, the verb picks from a group and leaves the rest behind, as with the best men or whichever bag you like.

  17. 17
    verbtransitive
    To accept or be given something, deservedly or not, or to claim it as though one had a right to it.

    Managers who take credit for their staff's ideas rarely keep good people for long.

    The captain took full responsibility for the loss.

    UsageUsual objects are credit and blame, with for: take the credit for her idea.

    Similaraccept, receive, assume, gain

    Oppositegive

  18. 18
    verbtransitive
    To react to, regard, or understand something in a particular way.

    She took the defeat with good grace.

    How did your parents take it?

    UsageOften used with a word or phrase showing the reaction: take the news badly, take it well.

    Similaraccept, receive, handle

    Note

    An older idiom, to take something in bad part, meaning to be offended by it, still turns up in fiction of 1918.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  19. 19
    occupy (seat)verbtransitive
    To go and occupy a place, such as a seat.

    Guests began to take their seats as the orchestra tuned up.

    She took a chair near the window and waited for the interview to begin.

    UsageTake a seat is the polite way to invite someone to sit down.

    Similaroccupy

    Oppositeleave, vacate

  20. 20
    bring to (state)verbtransitive
    To bring something or someone into a new state or condition.

    The founders hope to take the company public within three years.

    A string of bad decisions took the airline to the brink of bankruptcy.

    Similarbring, lead, drive, push

    Note

    This sense rarely works alone: it needs a word naming the new state, and the verb supplies the push. Take something apart, take an opponent down, take a company public: the particle or adjective after the object carries the meaning, so read the whole phrase together.

  21. 21
    verbtransitive
    To get something, especially a name or title, from a particular source.

    Novelists often take their titles from lines of poetry.

    The art movement took its name from the city where it began.

    UsageUse from before the source: the town takes its name from the river.

    Similardraw, derive, get, borrow

    Note

    Names and titles are its usual objects, with the source introduced by from and a possessive before the noun: As I Lay Dying takes its title from the Odyssey. Older writing used the frame more widely, as when a 1676 surgical treatise says a milder tumor takes its origin from a hot, bilious serum.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • As I Lay Dying takes its title from the Odyssey. en.wikipedia.org
    • The surgical work containing the example was published in 1676. wellcomecollection.org
    • The treatise describes a milder tumor as deriving from hot, bilious serum, using the historical construction paraphrased here. en.wiktionary.org
  22. 22
    feel (emotion)verbtransitive
    To experience or feel, with a noun of feeling as the object.

    He took great pleasure in proving them wrong.

    People take comfort from small routines.

    UsageSet prepositions: take pride in, take pleasure in, take offense at, take comfort from.

    Similarfeel, derive, find

    Note

    The noun carries the feeling, and take marks it as something one comes to have.

  23. 23
    go along (road)verbtransitive
    To travel along, through, or into a particular road, path, turning, or route.

    Hikers who take the north trail reach the lake in about an hour.

    The driver took a shortcut through the old industrial park.

    UsageThe object is the route, not the place: take the next left, take Route 9 to Boston.

    Similarfollow, use

    Note

    The use is old; in The Two Noble Kinsmen, Theseus says "This way the Stag took."

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • This route sense occurs in an old literary text, The Two Noble Kinsmen. gutenberg.org
    • Theseus says “This way the Stag took” in The Two Noble Kinsmen. folger.edu
  24. 24
    assume (shape)verbtransitive
    To assume or come to have a particular form, shape, or likeness.

    Protests can take many forms, from marches to boycotts.

    In the old legend, the river spirit takes the form of a white horse.

    UsageSet phrases: take the form of, and take shape, with no article.

    Similarassume

    Note

    This sense lives mostly in a few set phrases. Take the form of and take the likeness of belong to stories of gods and spirits changing shape, and also to plain description. Take shape drops the article and often turns abstract: a plan that takes shape is becoming clearer.

  25. 25
    hold (amount)verbtransitive
    To have the capacity to hold or accommodate a stated number or quantity.

    The tank will take another ten gallons before it's full.

    With the upper deck open, the stadium takes about 40,000 fans.

    Similarhold, accommodate, seat

    Note

    A capacity verb that usually travels with can or will and a number, often with up to: a minibus can take up to twelve passengers. It looks at what a container or space is able to hold, so it differs from the use for space already filled, often with the phrasal verb take up: the van takes six people describes its room, while the boxes take up half the van describes what fills it.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of take apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

"Take" comes from Middle English taken ("to take, grasp, strike"), from Old English tacan ("to grasp, touch"), probably borrowed from Old Norse taka ("to touch, take") and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tēkaną ("to touch"). It gradually displaced the native word nimen ("to take"), and is related to Scots tak, Swedish ta, and Danish tage.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

  • Take derives from Middle English taken, meaning to take, grasp, or strike. en.wiktionary.org
  • Middle English taken derives from Old English tacan, meaning to grasp or touch. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English tacan was probably borrowed from Old Norse taka, meaning to touch or take. en.wiktionary.org
  • The word ultimately derives from reconstructed Proto-Germanic *tēkaną, meaning to touch. en.wiktionary.org
  • Take gradually displaced native nimen, meaning to take. en.wiktionary.org
  • Take is related to Scots tak, Swedish ta, and Danish tage. en.wiktionary.org