teɪk v. & n. --v. (took; taken) 1 tr. lay hold
of;
get into one's hands. 2 tr.
acquire, get
possession of,
capture,
earn, or
win. 3 tr. get
the use of by
purchase or
formal agreement (take lodgings). 4 tr. (in a recipe)
avail oneself of; use. 5 tr. use as a
means of
transport (took a taxi). 6 tr. regularly
buy or
subscribe to (a
particular newspaper or
periodical etc.). 7 tr.
obtain after fulfilling the required conditions (take a degree). 8 tr.
occupy (take a chair). 9 tr.
make use of (take the
next turning on the left). 10 tr.
consume as
food or
medicine (took
tea;
took the pills). 11 intr. a be
successful or
effective (the inoculation
did not take). b (of a
plant,
seed, etc.)
begin to
grow. 12 tr.
require or use up (will
only take a minute;
these things take time). 13 tr.
cause to
come or go
with one;
convey (take the
book home; the
bus will take
you all the way). 14 tr.
remove;
dispossess a
person of (someone
has taken my pen). 15 tr.
catch or be infected with (fire or
fever etc.). 16 tr. a
experience or be
affected by (take
fright; take pleasure). b
give play to (take comfort). c
exert (take
courage; take no notice). 17 tr.
find out and note (a
name and
address; a person's
temperature etc.) by
enquiry or
measurement. 18 tr.
grasp mentally;
understand (I take
your point; I took you to mean yes). 19 tr.
treat or
regard in a specified
way (took the
news calmly; took it badly). 20 tr. (foll. by for) regard as
being (do you take me
for an idiot?). 21 tr. a
accept (take the offer). b
submit to (take a
joke; take no
nonsense; took a risk). 22 tr.
choose or
assume (took a
different view; took a job; took the initiative). 23 tr.
derive (takes
its name
from the inventor). 24 tr. (foll. by from)
subtract (take 3 from 9). 25 tr.
execute, make, or
undertake;
perform or
effect (take notes; take an
oath; take a
decision; take a look). 26 tr. occupy or
engage oneself
in;
indulge in;
enjoy (take a rest; take
exercise; take a holiday). 27 tr.
conduct (took the school assembly). 28 tr. deal with in a
certain way (took the
corner too fast). 29 tr. a
teach or be
taught (a subject). b be examined in (a subject). 30 tr. make (a photograph) with a
camera;
photograph (a person or thing). 31 tr. use as an
instance (let us take Napoleon). 32 tr. Gram.
have or require as
part of the
appropriate construction (this
verb takes an object). 33 tr. have
sexual intercourse with (a woman). 34 tr. (in
passive; foll. by
by, with) be attracted or charmed by. --n. 1 an
amount taken or
caught in one
session or
attempt etc. 2 a
scene or
sequence of
film photographed continuously at one
time. 3
esp. US takings, esp.
money received at a
theatre for seats. 4
Printing the amount of
copy set up at one time. øbe taken
ill become ill, esp. suddenly. have
what it takes colloq. have the
necessary qualities etc. for
success. take
account of see ACCOUNT. take
action see ACTION. take
advantage of see ADVANTAGE. take
advice see ADVICE. take after
resemble (esp. a
parent or ancestor). take
against begin to
dislike, esp. impulsively. take
aim see AIM. take
apart 1
dismantle. 2 colloq.
beat or
defeat. take
aside see ASIDE. take as
read accept
without reading or discussing. take
away 1 remove or
carry elsewhere. 2 subtract. 3
Brit. buy (food etc.) at a
shop or
restaurant for
eating elsewhere. take-away Brit. attrib.adj. (of food)
bought at a shop or restaurant for eating elsewhere. --n. 1 an
establishment selling
this. 2 the food
itself (let's get a take-away). take
back 1
retract (a statement). 2 convey (a person or thing) to
his or
her or its
original position. 3 carry (a person) in thought to a
past time. 4 Printing
transfer to the
previous line. take the
biscuit (or
bun or cake) colloq. be the
most remarkable. take a bow see
BOW(2). take
care of see CARE. take a
chance etc. see CHANCE. take down 1
write down (spoken words). 2 remove (a structure) by separating it into pieces. 3
humiliate. take effect see EFFECT. take for granted see
GRANT. take fright see FRIGHT. take from
diminish;
weaken;
detract from. take
heart be encouraged. take hold see
HOLD(1). take-home pay the pay received by an
employee after the
deduction of
tax etc. take ill (US sick) colloq. be taken ill. take in 1
receive as a
lodger etc. 2 undertake (work) at home. 3 make (a
garment etc.) smaller. 4 understand (did you take
that in?). 5
cheat (managed to take
them all in). 6
include or
comprise. 7 colloq.
visit (a place) on the way to
another (shall we take in Avebury?). 8
furl (a sail). 9 Brit. regularly buy (a newspaper etc.). take-in n. a
deception. take in
hand 1 undertake;
start doing or dealing with. 2 undertake the
control or
reform of (a person). take into account see ACCOUNT. take it 1 (often foll. by that + clause) assume (I take it that you have finished). 2 colloq.
endure a
difficulty or
hardship in a specified way (took it badly). take it
easy see EASY. take it from me (or take my
word for it) I can
assure you. take it ill
resent it. take it into one's
head see HEAD. take it on one (or oneself) (foll. by to + infin.)
venture or
presume. take it or leave it (esp. in imper.) an
expression of
indifference or impatience
about another's decision after
making an
offer. take it out of 1
exhaust the
strength of. 2 have
revenge on. take it out on
relieve one's frustration by attacking or treating harshly. take one's leave of see
LEAVE(2). take a
lot of (or some) doing be
hard to do. take a person's name in
vain see VAIN. take
off 1 a remove (clothing) from one's or another's
body. b remove or lead away. 2
deduct (part of an amount). 3
depart, esp. hastily (took off in a fast car). 4 colloq.
mimic humorously. 5
jump from the ground. 6 become
airborne. 7 (of a
scheme,
enterprise, etc.) become successful or
popular. 8 have (a period) away from
work. take-off 1 the
act of becoming airborne. 2 an act of mimicking. 3 a
place from
which one jumps. take oneself off go away. take on 1 undertake (work etc.). 2 engage (an employee). 3 be
willing or
ready to meet (an
adversary in
sport,
argument,
etc., esp. a stronger one). 4 acquire (a
new meaning etc.). 5 colloq.
show strong emotion. take orders see
ORDER. take out 1 remove from
within a place;
extract. 2
escort on an
outing. 3 get (a
licence or
summons etc.) issued. 4 US = take away 3. 5 Bridge remove (a
partner or a partner's call) from a
suit by
bidding a different one or no trumps. 6
murder or
destroy. take a person out of
himself or
herself make a person
forget his or her worries. take
over 1
succeed to the
management or ownership of. 2 take control. 3 Printing transfer to the next line. take-over n. the
assumption of control (esp. of a business); the buying-out of one
company by another. take part see PART. take place see PLACE. take a person's point see POINT. take
shape assume a
distinct form;
develop into
something definite. take sides see
SIDE. take
stock see STOCK. take the
sun see SUN. take that! an
exclamation accompanying a blow etc. take one's time not
hurry. take to 1 begin or
fall into the
habit of (took to smoking). 2 have
recourse to. 3
adapt oneself to. 4 form a
liking for. take to heart see HEART. take to one's heels see
HEEL(1). take to pieces see
PIECE. take the
trouble see TROUBLE. take up 1 become interested or
engaged in (a pursuit). 2
adopt as a
prot÷g÷. 3 occupy (time or space). 4 begin (residence etc.). 5
resume after an interruption. 6
interrupt or
question (a speaker). 7 accept (an offer etc.). 8
shorten (a garment). 9
lift up. 10
absorb (sponges take up water). 11 take (a person) into a
vehicle. 12
pursue (a
matter etc.)
further. take a person up on accept (a person's offer etc.). take up with begin to
associate with. øøtakable adj. (also takeable). [OE tacan f. ON taka]