# take

Pronunciation: say "TAYK" US/UK /teɪk/, AUS /tæɪk/

## Verb

1. To obtain something by force or other means so that you hold it, possess it, or have control over it.
   - Simple: To get hold of something and have it, with or without force.
   - _Take what you need and leave the rest._
   - _The rebels took control of the radio station._
2. To carry, lead, or transport someone or something with you from one place to another.
   - Simple: To carry something or bring someone with you to another place, as in 'Take an umbrella'.
   - _Take an umbrella, it looks like rain._
   - _He took the dog with him to the office._
3. To do, carry out, or go through the action named by the following noun, such as a breath, a bath, or a decision.
   - Simple: To do the action named by the next word, as in take a walk, take a bath, or take a decision.
   - _She took a deep breath and began._
   - _We need to take measures before winter._
4. To need or require a particular amount of time, effort, money, or quality in order to happen or be done.
   - Simple: To need a certain amount of time, money or effort, as in it takes an hour or it takes courage.
   - _It takes years to learn the violin well._
   - _How long did the drive take?_
5. To remove something from a place or from someone.
   - Simple: To remove something from a place.
   - _Take the pan off the heat and let it cool._
   - _She took the picture down from the wall._
6. To travel by a particular vehicle or means of transport.
   - Simple: To travel by a bus, train, plane, or other transport.
   - _We can take the subway or walk._
   - _She takes the same train every morning._
7. To ingest a medicine or drug, by swallowing, inhaling, or otherwise.
   - Simple: To put a medicine or drug into your body, by swallowing it, breathing it in, or some other way.
   - _Take one tablet with food twice a day._
   - _He took something at the party and felt ill._
8. To capture something in a photograph, on film, or in another kind of reproduction.
   - Simple: To make a photo, video, or recording of something.
   - _We took hundreds of photos on the trip._
   - _This camera can take sharp photos even at night._
9. To assume a job, office, or position and begin carrying out its duties.
   - Simple: To start an important job or position and do the work that goes with it.
   - _The prince took the throne at the age of nineteen._
   - _Many retired officers take jobs with private security firms._
10. To deal with or handle something, such as a situation or a task.
   - Simple: To deal with something, like a problem or a job.
   - _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._
11. To make use of something that is available, especially an opportunity, and turn it to one's advantage.
   - Simple: To use a chance or something you have so that it helps you.
   - _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._
12. To accept or receive something that is offered or given, such as money, a gift, or advice.
   - Simple: To accept something that someone offers or gives you, such as money or advice.
   - _He was accused of taking bribes._
   - _Do they take credit cards here?_
13. To seize or capture.
   - Simple: To capture a place or a person by force.
   - _The fortress was taken in a single night._
   - _The rebels hope to take the airport by dawn._
14. To think of something in a particular way, or to treat it as an example of the point being made.
   - Simple: To think about something in a certain way, or to use it as an example.
   - _The city has a housing problem; take downtown rents, which rose sharply again this year._
   - _Taken together, the results suggest the new treatment works._
15. To study, now chiefly by enrolling in a class or course.
   - Simple: To study a subject, especially by joining a class.
   - _He's taking French at night school._
   - _Which courses did you take in your first year?_
16. To choose, select, or pick.
   - Simple: To choose or pick something.
   - _We'll take the room with the sea view._
   - _She took the smaller slice and left me the big one._
17. To accept or be given something, deservedly or not, or to claim it as though one had a right to it.
   - Simple: To accept or get something, like praise or blame, whether you deserve it or not.
   - _Managers who take credit for their staff's ideas rarely keep good people for long._
   - _The captain took full responsibility for the loss._
18. To react to, regard, or understand something in a particular way.
   - Simple: To react to or understand something in a certain way, as in taking news well or taking a joke badly.
   - _She took the defeat with good grace._
   - _How did your parents take it?_
19. To go and occupy a place, such as a seat.
   - Simple: To go to a seat or place and sit or stand in it.
   - _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._
20. To bring something or someone into a new state or condition.
   - Simple: To make something or someone go 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._
21. To get something, especially a name or title, from a particular source.
   - Simple: To get something, like a name or title, from a certain place or source.
   - _Novelists often take their titles from lines of poetry._
   - _The art movement took its name from the city where it began._
22. To experience or feel, with a noun of feeling as the object.
   - Simple: To have a certain feeling, used with a word that names the feeling.
   - _He took great pleasure in proving them wrong._
   - _People take comfort from small routines._
23. To travel along, through, or into a particular road, path, turning, or route.
   - Simple: To go along a road or path, or to turn into one.
   - _Hikers who take the north trail reach the lake in about an hour._
   - _The driver took a shortcut through the old industrial park._
24. To assume or come to have a particular form, shape, or likeness.
   - Simple: To come to have a certain shape or form.
   - _Protests can take many forms, from marches to boycotts._
   - _In the old legend, the river spirit takes the form of a white horse._
27. To submit to or endure something without complaining, resenting it, or giving way physically.
   - Simple: To put up with something hard or unpleasant without getting upset or breaking down.
   - _She could take any amount of criticism without a word of complaint._
   - _The boxer took heavy punishment for ten rounds and never went down._
28. To engage or take hold, or to begin to have an effect.
   - Simple: To start to hold or work, or to have the effect you wanted.
   - _Doctors watched closely to see whether the skin graft would take._
   - _After a few tries, the damp kindling finally took._
29. To find out by measuring, examining, or asking.
   - Simple: To learn something by measuring it, checking it or asking about it.
   - _The surveyor took readings from the hilltop._
   - _Take the patient's blood pressure every hour._
30. To assume or suppose something about someone or something, or to regard it as being a particular way.
   - Simple: To think that someone or something is a certain kind of person or thing.
   - _Visitors often take the old warehouse for an abandoned building._
   - _From his accent, she took him to be a local._
31. To record something in writing, or to note it as carefully as if writing it down.
   - Simple: To write something down, or to note it carefully as if you were writing it.
   - _Nurses take a patient's history before the doctor comes in._
   - _The officer took the driver's statement at the scene of the crash._
32. To come away with a prize, medal, or game as the winner, or to finish a competition in a stated position, such as first or third.
   - Simple: To win a prize, medal, or game, or to end a contest in a certain place.
   - _The Kenyan runner took gold in the 10,000 meters._
   - _They need to take two of the last three games to make the playoffs._
33. To believe or accept the statements of a person.
   - Simple: To believe what someone tells you.
   - _Don't take everything the salesman says as gospel._
   - _She took the report at face value._
34. To subtract one number or amount from another.
   - Simple: To subtract one number from another.
   - _Take twenty percent off the price and see what's left._
   - _What do you get if you take six from ten?_
35. To grasp or grip.
   - Simple: To get hold of something or someone with your hand.
   - _She took the rope with both hands._
   - _Take hold of the rail._
36. To captivate, charm, or catch the interest of.
   - Simple: To please someone and catch their interest, often used with 'fancy'.
   - _Spend an afternoon in the bookshop and see which titles take your fancy._
   - _The kids were really taken with the new puppy._
37. Of a road, path, or stairway, to lead to a place or serve as the way there.
   - Simple: Used about a road, path or stairs, to bring you to a certain place.
   - _This lane will take you to the church._
   - _The old Battersea bridge took him over the river._
43. To have a given size in clothing or footwear, meaning the size one wears or would need.
   - Simple: To be a certain size in clothes or shoes.
   - _I usually take a size 10, but this brand runs small._
   - _He took a 42 long when he was fitted for his wedding suit._
44. To end someone's life, or carry a person off through death; to kill.
   - Simple: To kill someone or cause their death.
   - _Diseases like malaria still take the lives of many young children._
   - _The avalanche took two skiers before rescuers could reach them._
45. To sustain damage or undergo some hardship, such as a blow or a loss.
   - Simple: To have something bad happen to you, like damage or a hard time.
   - _The destroyer took two torpedoes amidships and sank within minutes._
   - _Beach towns take a hit every time a hurricane shows up in the forecast._
25. To have the capacity to hold or accommodate a stated number or quantity.
   - Simple: To have enough space for a certain number or amount.
   - _The tank will take another ten gallons before it's full._
   - _With the upper deck open, the stadium takes about 40,000 fans._

## Noun

26. An interpretation, opinion, or assessment, or a statement of one.
   - Simple: What someone thinks about something, or their view of it.
   - _Her take on the film was harsher than mine._
   - _Hot takes get shared, careful ones get ignored._
38. In film, broadcasting, and music recording, one uninterrupted attempt to record a scene or performance, or the recording itself.
   - Simple: One try at filming a scene or recording music without stopping.
   - _The director wanted another take of the kiss._
   - _They got it in one take._
41. Money taken in as income or proceeds, whether legally or illegally, and in particular the profits.
   - Simple: The money that a business or a crime brings in, especially the profit.
   - _The casino's nightly take dropped after a rival opened across the street._
   - _The lookout demanded a bigger share of the take before the next job._
42. A particular approach to something, or a distinctive treatment of it.
   - Simple: A way of doing or presenting something, often one that is new or different.
   - _The chef's menu offers a modern take on traditional Southern cooking._
   - _Her stripped-down take on the 1970s ballad drew a standing ovation._

## Verb

39. To become infected with or come down with an illness or similar condition. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To get an illness, such as a cold.
   - _She took a fever after the crossing._
   - _Sit in a draft and you will take cold._
40. To have something to eat or drink. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To eat or drink something, usually a meal or a drink.
   - _The two sisters still take tea together every afternoon at four._
   - _During the winter the family took their meals in the kitchen to stay warm._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To catch fish or kill or capture game animals.
- (verb) To catch a delivery cleanly in cricket, especially behind the stumps as wicket-keeper, typically after it beats the bat or grazes the edge.
- (verb) To demand and obtain something as due, or to inflict it, as in taking a toll or taking revenge.
- (verb) To win a trick at cards, or capture an opposing piece in chess and similar games.
- (verb) To accept something as a form of payment or in return for goods or services.
- (verb) To bring someone into a relationship, such as marriage, partnership, or service.
- (verb) To come into ownership of property through the law, as an heir does.
- (verb) To have sexual intercourse with someone.
- (verb) To beat an opponent in a fight or brawl.
- (verb) To choose something and make it one's own, such as a name or a position.
- (verb) To go past, over, or around an obstacle, or to try to, as a horse with a fence or a driver with a bend.
- (verb) To go or head in a particular direction.
- (verb) To get the use of something, such as a house, by renting or leasing it.
- (verb) To be a paying subscriber to a periodical, such as a daily paper.
- (verb) To join in or attend an activity, such as a class or a course.
- (verb) To work out a meaning or conclusion from something seen, heard, or experienced.
- (verb) To discover or catch someone unawares while they are in some condition, as when caught by surprise.
- (verb) To soak up a dye or ink, or to respond well to a treatment such as polish.
- (verb) Of a boat or ship, to let water in.
- (verb) To fill or need a certain amount of space, or to use it up.
- (verb) To play or act a part.
- (verb) To commit oneself by making a promise such as an oath or a vow.
- (verb) To go into or move onto a place, such as the stage or the field.
- (verb) To turn to something for help or protection, as when taking shelter or refuge.
- (verb) To capture an image of a person or scene, as with a camera.
- (verb) To cheat or con someone out of cash.
- (verb) To let a pitched ball go by without swinging the bat at it.
- (verb) To require a particular grammatical form or construction, such as a case or a preposition.
- (verb) Of a function, command or program, to accept arguments as input, whether none, a fixed number or a varying number.
- (verb) To purchase something, especially as chosen from what is offered.
- (verb) To stick or soak in as intended, as dye or glue does.
- (verb) Of a graft, plant, or idea, to start growing or become established after being set in place.
- (verb) Of a mechanical part, to catch or engage with another part.
- (verb) To be well received or popular, winning people over.
- (verb) To come into a certain state or condition, as in 'she took ill.'
- (verb) To come out well or attractively in photographs.
- (verb) A word placed before a second verb and joined to it by and, adding emphasis rather than meaning.
- (verb) To pass something into someone's hands.
- (verb) To land a punch or blow on someone.
- (verb) To stop at a place as part of a trip, or include it on one's route.
- (verb) To make a painting of someone or something.
- (noun) An instance of taking hold of or receiving something.
- (noun) The number of fish or animals, or amount of pelts, caught or killed at one time.
- (noun) One continuous recording of a piece of music, made without stopping.
- (noun) A visible reaction on someone's face, especially to something surprising.
- (noun) A vaccination that has worked, shown by the expected reaction where it was given.
- (noun) In cricket, a clean catch taken by a fielder, especially the wicketkeeper.
- (noun) The portion of copy handed to a typesetter to set in one go.

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/take (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).