13.
 a.
  (1) : to permit to enter : let in : admit
   < liable to take a great deal of water over the bow in bad weather — D.W.Pye >
   < seams had opened and the boat was taking water fast >
  (2) : to have room for : accommodate
   < shelf just takes the books >
   < harbor is so badly silted it can take only small craft — Christopher Rand >
   < suitcase wouldn't take another thing >
   < runway … long enough to take any of the biggest airliners of tomorrow — A.J.Cathrein >
   < largest canals take barges of more than a thousand tons — Alice Mutton >
 b. : to be affected injuriously by (as a disease) : catch, contract
  < take cold >
  < took the measles >
  < one of the sorrels took colic and died — J.F.Dobie >
  < their liability to take the blight — H.E.Laffer >
  : be seized by
  < take a fit >
  < take fright >
 c. : to absorb or become impregnated with (as dye) : be affected by (as polish)
  < cloth that takes dye well >
  < surface will not take paint >
  < granite takes a high polish >
  < won't take a shine, no matter how long you wear it — Clarence Woodbury >
 d. : to receive into itself:
  (1) obsolete : contain, include
  (2) Scotland : to close in upon and submerge
   < giantess who was so big the Sound of Mull took her only knee-deep — Alastair Borthwick >
14.
 a.
  (1) : to receive into the mind : apprehend, comprehend, understand
   < his hearers were slow to take his meaning >
   < object of the writer will be … to make the reader take his meaning readily and precisely — Ernest Gowers >
   < event was so unusual and unexpected that we did not know how to take it — R.M.Lovett >
   < take a remark as it was intended >
  (2) : to apprehend the meaning of (a person)
   < if I take you correctly >
   < in the other scenes we have no difficulty in taking him as we are meant to take him — F.R.Leavis >
 b. : to regard or look upon : consider, suppose
  < we take this to be your final offer >
  < take it as settled >
  < I take it that you approve >
  < hoped he would not be taken as absolutely committed >
  < does not wish people to take his fictions as novels — Carlos Lynes >
  < the type taken as normal in English political writing — D.W.Brogan >
  < canon law may be taken to include theology — H.O.Taylor >
  < do not take me as urging that it ought to be done — F.S.Mitchell >
 c. : to accept, consider, or reckon as being or as equal to
  < taking a stride at the usual 30 inches >
  < reports by … untrained observers are all taken at a hundred percent of their face value — M.R.Cohen >
 d. : to feel or begin to feel or experience (as a state of mind)
  < take pleasure >
  < took delight in perversity — G.W.Brace >
  < took an immediate dislike to the newcomer >
  < saw no reason to take offense >
  < take a little reasonable umbrage — C.E.Montague >
  < takes satisfaction in inertly orthodox generalities — F.R.Leavis >
  < took pride in his work >
  < nurse their griefs … seem, in fact, almost to take a delight in brooding over them — H.A.Overstreet >
 e.
  (1) : to form and adopt in the mind or with the will
   < take a resolution >
   < take a grave view of a situation >
   < was here that the real decisions on policy were taken — J.H.Plumb >
   < whenever he took a notion he wanted something, he bought it — Margaret Cousins >
   < taking harsh judgments of his contemporaries — S.L.A.Marshall >
  (2) : to form with the mind or will and exercise or display in action
   < takes pity on all suffering creatures >
   < had taken no further heed of her existence — W.J.Locke >
15.
 a. : to convey, lead, carry, remove, or cause to go along to another place, the direction of movement being away from the place from which the action is regarded: as
  (1) : to cause (as a person) to go along with one to a place
   < take the baby to the park >
   < took his girl to the prom >
   < promised to take the whole family to dinner >
   < this bus will take you into town >
  also : lead
   < this line takes us directly to the city >
   < fine road takes you through the forest — Tom Marvel >
   < to climb it would take us in the wrong direction — D.L.Busk >
  (2) : to bear with one to a place or person
   < take your father's slippers to him >
   < take the dishes to the kitchen >
   < took a plentiful lunch with them but brought most of it back >
  (3) : to require or induce to go
   < business took him west >
   < an appointment that took him into town >
   < neighbor whose employment takes him on periodic trips across the country — Sidney Alexander >
 b. : to lead, convey, or remove in thought or mind
  < seeking interests that would take him out of himself >
  < journey took his mind away from his troubles >
 c. : to convey to a higher or lower degree
  < last-minute touchdown took the score to 57 >
  < heavy selling in the afternoon took the list lower >
 d. archaic : to give (oneself) up or over : betake, commit, devote
16.
 a. : to remove or obtain by removing : abstract
  < take eggs from a nest >
  < take the cream off the milk >
  < you can take a cork out of one of those bottles >
 b.
  (1) : to put an end to (as life or one's life)
   < the right of the state to take human life >
   < took his own life in a fit of despondency >
  (2) : to remove by death : deprive of life : cause to die
   < was taken in his prime >
   < those who have been taken hence >
   < a mother whose only child had recently been taken >
   < a cruel fate took him from us >
 c.
  (1) : deduct, subtract
   < take two from four >
   < took ten percent off the bill for cash >
   < celebrates his fiftieth birthday, give or take a few months, with this selection — Carlos Baker >
  (2) : to carry away : withdraw
   < never took his eyes from hers >
   < gave him kicks that took the laugh off his face — Claud Cockburn >
17. : to undertake and make (as a movement) or do or perform (as an act or an action)
 < take a walk >
 < take a look >
 < take aim >
 < take a trip >
 < take a turn around the block >
 < take two steps forward >
 < stopped two or three times to take a sounding — Nevil Shute >
 < able to take such action by air, naval, or land forces as may be necessary — Vera M. Dean >
as
 a. : to direct and make a specified motion (as a blow)
  < took a swing at a policeman >
  < tested the pillow by taking a poke at it >
 b. : to set in motion (as a lawsuit) : institute
  < take proceedings >
  < take legal action >
 c. : to put or set forth : raise
  < take an objection >
  < be fired … if an important reader or advertiser took exception to something he said — Phoenix Flame >
  < might take exception to his representative having a meal with casteless persons — Dillon Ripley >
 d. : bid, say
  < take adieu >
  < take a last farewell >
18. archaic : to assume or resume (as a discourse) at a point of leaving off
19.
 a. : to apply oneself to and treat or deal with
  < take first things first >
  < doctor was sure he had taken the disease in time >
  < take the problems one by one >
  < next let us take the Peloponnesian War >
  < if he be summoned to court, his case is taken in a language he does not understand — Stuart Cloete >
 b.
  (1) : to deal with, consider, or view in a particular relation
   < taken together, the details were quite significant >
   < taking one thing with another, decided they had not done badly >
  (2) : to consider as an instance
   < to illustrate, take ancient Greece >
 c. : to apply oneself to the study of or the acquisition of skill in
  < take fancy dancing >
  < take music lessons >
 specifically : to study (as a subject or course) at an educational institution
  < took English 21 last year >
  < is taking both French and German >
20. : to apply oneself to getting through or past or to surmounting (as a hedge or a hurdle) : succeed in clearing (as a difficulty or an obstacle)
 < take two stairs at a time >
 < took the corner on two wheels >
 < was taking fences at the age of six >
 < took the puddle in an easy leap >
 < took an exit at three times the posted limit — Hugh Sherwood >
 < sort of hill which any car can take with ease — F.G.Kay >
21. : to impose upon : cheat, swindle
 < how can the amateur collector be sure he isn't being taken — New Orleans (La.) Times-Picayune >
 < taken for over a hundred thousand dollars on shakedowns alone — F.B.Gipson >
 < girl who would take me for a lot of money — Merle Miller >
I. \ˈtāk\intransitive verb
1. : to obtain possession: as
 a. : capture
  < the queen in chess takes at any distance in a straight line >
  < the symbol x, read “takes”, indicates a capture — New Complete Hoyle >
 b. : to receive property under law as one's own : receive the title to property
  < he takes as heir >
  < was entitled, as a society with a lawful object, to take under a charitable bequest — Eduard Jenks >
 c. of a fish : to seize a lure or bait : rise to bait : bite
  < salmon took that morning, though halfheartedly — B.A.Williams >
  < will take in clear water >
  < tench, who stop taking soon after breakfast — T.H.White b. 1906 >
2. : to lay hold : catch, engage, hold
 < high-velocity harpoon is fired. If this strikes and takes, an explosive charge goes off inside the animal's rib cage — I.T.Sanderson >
3.
 a. : to establish a take especially by uniting or growing — used of living things (as plant or surgical grafts)
  < with an experienced surgeon some 90 percent of the grafts take — Lancet >
 b. : strike 17a
4.
 a.
  (1) : to betake oneself : strike out : set out : go, proceed
   < take after a purse snatcher >
   < take down the street and around the corner >
   < take across a field >
   < take over the hill >
  (2) chiefly dialect : to take its course or run or lead (as of a road or river)
   < road turns here and takes over the hill >
 b. chiefly dialect — used as an intensifier or often simply redundantly with a following verb
  < took and swung at the ball but missed >
  < took and grabbed his hat and ran >
  < took and cried everytime anybody looked at her >
  — compare go
5.
 a. : to have the natural or intended effect or action : take effect : act, operate
  < an expensive lesson in caution; it could only be hoped that it would take >
 as
  (1) : to catch hold : get hold
   < wick was dry and the sparks didn't take >
  (2) of a plan : to work out or turn out successfully : succeed
   < fanciful schemes without a chance of taking >
   < where retirements are often announced but seldom take — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union >
  (3) of a vaccine or vaccination : to produce a take
 b. : to show the natural or intended effect (as of fire or cold) : become affected (as by adherence or absorption) in the expected or desired way
  < dry fuel takes readily >
  < had never taken after his first vaccination >
6. : charm, captivate:
 a. : to exert a spell
  < no planets strike, no fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm — Shakespeare >
 b. : to prove taking or attractive : gain a favorable reception : win popular favor
  < the play took greatly and was still drawing big audiences — W.A.Darlington >
  < book had not yet taken with the general reader >
7. : detract — used with from
 < a few minor irritations that took only slightly from their general satisfaction >
8. : to be or admit of being affected: as
 a. : to be seized or attacked in a specified way : become, fall
  < died suddenly in 1820, taking ill on his way home — Isobel Hutchison >
  < took sick >
  < took pretty surly — Punch >
 b. : to be capable of being moved in a specified way : come
  < top takes off >
  < toy clock with varicolored plastic works that take apart for ~ >
  < table takes apart for packing >
  < gadget takes to pieces for cleaning >
 c. : to adhere or become absorbed
  < ink that takes well on cloth >
 d. : to admit of being photographed
  < colors that take well >
  < takes best highlighted against a dark background >
Synonyms:
 seize, grasp, clutch, snatch, grab: take is a general term without very specific connotation and applicable to the notion of coming to hold or possess, momentarily or longer, by physical action of the hand or in any other way
  < take the book from the shelf >
  < a city taken by the enemy >
  < take a cottage for the summer >
  seize suggests sudden and forcible taking, often the taking or apprehending of something elusive or difficult by quick, opportune action
  < they seize all the cattle and other property left behind by the fugitives in their haste — J.G.Frazer >
  < the Breton seized more than he could hold; the Norman took less than he would have liked — Henry Adams >
  < the character … is difficult to seize, for it comprised qualities hardly ever combined in one man — Hilaire Belloc >
  grasp implies a firm quick laying hold and tightening fingers around, a taking or seizing likened to such an action, or a similar effective comprehension
  < she grasped him by the arm, driving her fingers deep into the flesh — R.P.Warren >
  < determined to grasp all they could for Pennsylvania, Colonial officials tricked the Indians — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania >
  < understood the words I heard, but couldn't seem to grasp their meaning — Kenneth Roberts >
  clutch may suggest increased suddenness, force, or firmness in taking hold, apprehending, or attempting to take hold
  < with an agonized cry, she clutches his shoulders and drags herself to her feet — G.B.Shaw >
  < straws were straws, and the frailer they were the harder she clutched them — George Meredith >
  < flung himself forward with the others, desperately clutching at the precious escaping fish — A.J.Cronin >
  snatch stresses suddenness of motion without indicating a forceful retention and may suggest stealthy or ready promptness in action
  < many too are killed by their stronger companions in their desperate attempts to snatch their share of food — James Stevenson-Hamilton >
  < tried to keep hold of the plate which the school teacher tried to snatch away and for a few minutes they struggled laughing — Sherwood Anderson >
  grab typically suggests rude rough forceful action, often in indifference to or violation of the rights of others
  < could apparently grab Silesia by force of arms — Stringfellow Barr >
  < the more adventurous hastened to California with a pocketful of paper to grab rich mineral and timber lands — American Guide Series: Minnesota >
Synonym: see in addition attract, receive.
•
- take a bow
- take account of
- take a chance
- take a dare
- take a dive
- take advantage of
- take after
- take against
- take a joke
- take alarm
- take amiss
- take apart
- take a powder
- take a reef
- take arms
- take breath
- take care
- take care of
- take charge
- take counsel
- take croquet
- take effect
- take example
- take fire
- take five
- take for
- take from the table
- take guard
- take heart
- take hold
- take into account
- take into camp
- take into one's head
- take in vain
- take issue
- take it in snuff
- take it on the chin
- take it or leave it
- take it out of
- take kindly to
- take lying down
- take notice
- take notice of
- take oath
- take one at one's word
- take one's death
- take one's life in one's hands
- take one's medicine
- take one's time
- take order
- take orders
- take or leave
- take part
- take place
- take possession
- take root
- take shape
- take silk
- take stage
- take the bull by the horns
- take the cake
- take the count
- take the cross
- take the field
- take the floor
- take the road
- take the rue
- take the wind out of one's sails
- take the word
- take the words out of one's mouth
- take time by the forelock
- take to
- take to one's heels
- take to task
- take wake
- take water
- take with
II. \ˈtāk\noun
(-s)
1. : an act or the action of taking (as by seizing, accepting, or otherwise coming into possession): as
 a. : an act or the action of killing, capturing, or catching (as game or fish)
  < the hunting take and other causes of mortality to pheasant eggs — Sports Illustrated >
 b. chiefly Britain : the action of leasing land (as for farming or mining)
 c. : an action of accepting something (as by way of compromise) — compare give-and-take
 d.
  (1) : the capture of a chessman
  (2) : a position in which capture can be made — used with on
   < White has left his queen on take >
 e.
  (1) : the uninterrupted photographing or televising of a single scene or part of a scene
  (2) : the making of a sound recording
   < session opened with the second take of the first part of the concerto — Murray Schumach >
2. : something that is taken:
 a. : the amount of money received (as from a business venture, a sale, an admission charge, an enforced contribution): as
  (1) : the sum total taken in especially from particular sources
   < was fixing to increase the state's take on mutuel betting — J.G.Forrest >
   < the farmer's take last year >
   < the tax take >
   < take has lagged behind the increased outgo — Harlow Shapley >
   < a box-office take which yearly declined — Kaspar Monahan >
   < the 1956 take from tourism — Newsweek >
   < crowds became larger, and the take greater — Carey McWilliams >
  (2) : a percentage of total receipts deducted or reserved (as the amount of a racing bet deducted by the state and the track owners) : cut
   < gambling take helps pay for the state's roads — Jack Goodman >
   < 2.17 percent, the syndicate's net take on the issue — John Brooks >
  (3) : a criminal's haul
 b. : the number or quantity (as of animals, fish, or pelts) taken at one time : catch, haul
  < a catch of four cows and an oil take of more than a hundred barrels — H.A.Chippendale >
  < yearly take of cottontail rabbits … runs into the millions — American Guide Series: Michigan >
 c.
  (1) chiefly Britain : a piece of land taken by lease : holding
  (2) : oil taken or bought from a lease
 d.
  (1) : an installment of copy given to a compositor for typesetting; especially : a section of a running newspaper or wire service story sent to the pressroom in sections
  (2) : the type set from such copy
 e.
  (1) : a passage to be taken down or an amount taken down at one time (as in shorthand) or transcribed (as on a typewriter)
   < the high-speed takes in this course have been taken from the Congressional Record — C.I.Blanchard & C.E.Zoubek >
  (2) : a section or installment (as of an article, a speech) arbitrarily chosen (as for convenience in reading, recording, translation)
   < prepared speech, translated in short takes — W.V.Shannon >
   < an informal anthology in short takes — William Miller >
   < might be wisest to read them in short takes — New Yorker >
 f.
  (1) : a scene or part of a scene filmed or televised at one time without stopping the camera and with or without a sound recording
   < usually a cutter receives hundreds of takes of scenes — Andrew Buchanan >
  also : the photography of a scene sequence identified by photographing a scene number on a take board
  (2) : a sound recording made during a single recording period usually seven or eight minutes in length
   < hundreds of feet of tape contain dozens of takes — New York Times >
  often : a trial recording
3.
 a. : something that takes effect: as
  (1) obsolete : a magic spell
  (2) : taking quality : charm
 b. : something (as a play or song) that becomes popular
4. : an action or a result of taking effect:
 a. : reaction of vaccinia indicating successful introduction of virus into the skin and its multiplication
  < should be vaccinated again and again, if necessary, until there is a take — Benjamin Spock >
 b. : a successful union (as of a graft)
  < skin grafting … resulted in a complete take — Science News Letter >
5. : an act or the action of taking something in mentally (as by a show of understanding) : reaction, response
 < gave my name to the uniformed maid — whose take, as I announced myself, was something to behold — Polly Adler >
 < the lovable baby with the big feet and the slow take — Robert Hatch >
 < no stage gasp or actor's take — Otis Ferguson >
 < would strike the committee, in a giant delayed take — Russell Maloney >
— compare double take
•
- on the take
IV. verb
or take a walk
•
- take a bath
- take a hike
- take a position
- take no prisoners
- take the mickey
- take the mickey out of
V. noun
: a distinct or personal point of view, outlook, or assessment
 < was asked for her take on recent developments >
also : a distinct treatment or variation
 < a new take on an old style >
•
- on the take