Definitions for: Take


[n] the act of photographing a scene or part of a scene without interruption
[n] the income arising from land or other property; "the average return was about 5%"
[v] be seized or affected in a specified way; "take sick"; "be taken drunk"
[v] interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression; "I read this address as a satire"; "How should I take this message?"; "You can't take credit for this!"
[v] make a film or photograph of something; "take a scene"; "shoot a movie"
[v] be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness; "He got AIDS"; "She came down with pneumonia"; "She took a chill"
[v] remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, taking off, etc.; or remove something abstract; "remove a threat"; "remove a wrapper"; "Remove the dirty dishes from the table"; "take the gun from your pocket"; "This machine withdraws heat from the environment"
[v] ascertain or determine by measuring, computing or take a reading from a dial; "take a pulse"; "A reading was taken of the earth's tremors"
[v] take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect; "His voice took on a sad tone"; "The story took a new turn"; "he adopted an air of superiority"; "She assumed strange manners"; "The gods assume human or animal form in these fables"
[v] be a student of a certain subject; "She is reading for the bar exam"
[v] accept or undergo, often unwillingly; "We took a pay cut"
[v] pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives; "Take any one of these cards"; "Choose a good husband for your daughter"; "She selected a pair of shoes from among the dozen the salesgirl had shown her"
[v] consider, as of an example; "Take the case of China"; "Consider the following case"
[v] take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs; "the accident claimed three lives"; "The hard work took its toll on her"
[v] lay claim to; as of an idea; "She took credit for the whole idea"
[v] obtain by winning; "Winner takes all"; "He took first prize"
[v] aim or direct at; as of blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment; "Please don't aim at your little brother!"; "He trained his gun on the burglar"; "Don't train your camera on the women"; "Take a swipe at one's opponent"
[v] serve oneself to, or consume regularly; "Have another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee"
[v] get into one's hands, take physically; "Take a cookie!"; "Can you take this bag, please"
[v] have sex with; archaic use; "He had taken this woman when she was most vulnerable"
[v] travel or go by means of a certain kind of transportation, or a certain route; "He takes the bus to work"; "She takes Route 1 to Newark"
[v] proceed along in a vehicle; "We drive the turnpike to work"
[v] occupy or take on, as of a position or posture; "He assumes the lotus position"; "She took her seat on the stage"; "We took our seats in the orchestra"; "She took up her position behind the tree"; "strike a pose"
[v] take somebody somewhere; "We lead him to our chief"; "can you take me to the main entrance?"; "He conducted us to the palace"
[v] head into a specified direction; "The escaped convict took to the hills"; "We made for the mountains"
[v] take something or somebody with oneself somewhere; "Bring me the box from the other room"; "Take these letters to the boss"; "This brings me to the main point"
[v] experience or feel; submit to; "Take a test"; "Take the plunge"
[v] to get into a position of having, e.g., safety, comfort; "take shelter from the storm"
[v] take into one's possession; "We are taking an orphan from Romania"; "I'll take three salmon steaks"
[v] take by force; "Hitler took the Baltic Republics"; "The army took the fort on the hill"
[v] buy, select; "I'll take a pound of that sausage"
[v] engage for service under a term of contract; "We took an apartment on a quiet street"; "Let's rent a car"; "Shall we take a guide in Rome?"
[v] receive or obtain by regular payment; "We take the Times every day"
[v] make use of or accept for some purpose; "take a risk"; "take an opportunity"
[v] receive willingly something given or offered; "The only girl who would have him was the miller's daughter"; "I won't have this dog in my house!"; "Please accept my present"
[v] admit into a group or community; "accept students for graduate study"; "We'll have to vote on whether or not to admit a new member"
[v] as of time or space; "It took three hours to get to work this morning"; "This event occupied a very short time"
[v] assume, as of positions or roles; "She took the job as director of development"
[v] develop a habit; "He took to visiting bars"
[v] carry out; "take action"; "take steps"; "take vengeance"
[v] require as useful, just, or proper; "It takes nerve to do what she did"; "success usually requires hard work"; "This job asks a lot of patience and skill"; "This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice"; "This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert"; "This intervention does not postulates a patient's consent"
[v] be capable of holding or containing; "This box won't take all the items"; "The flask holds one gallon"
[v] have with oneself; have on one's person; "She always takes an umbrella"; "I always carry money"; "She packs a gun when she goes into the mountains"
[v] be designed to hold or take; "This surface will not take the dye"



Webster (1913) Definition: Take (t[=a]k), v. t.
1. To make a picture, photograph, or the like, of; as, to
take a group or a scene. [Colloq.]

2. To give or deliver (a blow to); to strike; hit; as, he
took me in the face; he took me a blow on the head. [Obs.
exc. Slang or Dial.]


Take, obs. p. p. of Take.
Taken. --Chaucer.


Take, v. t. [imp. Took; p. p. Takend; p. pr. & vb. n.
Taking.] [Icel. taka; akin to Sw. taga, Dan. tage, Goth.
t[=e]kan to touch; of uncertain origin.]
1. In an active sense; To lay hold of; to seize with the
hands, or otherwise; to grasp; to get into one's hold or
possession; to procure; to seize and carry away; to
convey. Hence, specifically:
(a) To obtain possession of by force or artifice; to get
the custody or control of; to reduce into subjection
to one's power or will; to capture; to seize; to make
prisoner; as, to take am army, a city, or a ship;
also, to come upon or befall; to fasten on; to attack;
to seize; -- said of a disease, misfortune, or the
like.

This man was taken of the Jews. --Acts xxiii.
27.

Men in their loose, unguarded hours they take;
Not that themselves are wise, but others weak.
--Pope.

They that come abroad after these showers are
commonly taken with sickness. --Bacon.

There he blasts the tree and takes the cattle
And makes milch kine yield blood. --Shak.
(b) To gain or secure the interest or affection of; to
captivate; to engage; to interest; to charm.

Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
--Prov. vi.
25.

Cleombroutus was so taken with this prospect,
that he had no patience. --Wake.

I know not why, but there was a something in
those half-seen features, -- a charm in the very
shadow that hung over their imagined beauty, --
which took me more than all the outshining
loveliness of her companions. --Moore.
(c) To make selection of; to choose; also, to turn to; to
have recourse to; as, to take the road to the right.

Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my
son. And Jonathan was taken. --1 Sam. xiv.
42.

The violence of storming is the course which God
is forced to take for the destroying . . . of
sinners. --Hammond.
(d) To employ; to use; to occupy; hence, to demand; to
require; as, it takes so much cloth to make a coat.

This man always takes time . . . before he
passes his judgments. --I. Watts.
(e) To form a likeness of; to copy; to delineate; to
picture; as, to take picture of a person.

Beauty alone could beauty take so right.
--Dryden.
(f) To draw; to deduce; to derive. [R.]

The firm belief of a future judgment is the most
forcible motive to a good life, because taken
from this consideration of the most lasting
happiness and misery. --Tillotson.
(g) To assume; to adopt; to acquire, as shape; to permit
to one's self; to indulge or engage in; to yield to;
to have or feel; to enjoy or experience, as rest,
revenge, delight, shame; to form and adopt, as a
resolution; -- used in general senses, limited by a
following complement, in many idiomatic phrases; as,
to take a resolution; I take the liberty to say.
(h) To lead; to conduct; as, to take a child to church.
(i) To carry; to convey; to deliver to another; to hand
over; as, he took the book to the bindery.

He took me certain gold, I wot it well.
--Chaucer.
(k) To remove; to withdraw; to deduct; -- with from; as,
to take the breath from one; to take two from four.

2. In a somewhat passive sense, to receive; to bear; to
endure; to acknowledge; to accept. Specifically:
(a) To accept, as something offered; to receive; not to
refuse or reject; to admit.

Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a
murderer. --Num. xxxv.
31.

Let not a widow be taken into the number under
threescore. --1 Tim. v.
10.
(b) To receive as something to be eaten or dronk; to
partake of; to swallow; as, to take food or wine.
(c) Not to refuse or balk at; to undertake readily; to
clear; as, to take a hedge or fence.
(d) To bear without ill humor or resentment; to submit to;
to tolerate; to endure; as, to take a joke; he will
take an affront from no man.
(e) To admit, as, something presented to the mind; not to
dispute; to allow; to accept; to receive in thought;
to entertain in opinion; to understand; to interpret;
to regard or look upon; to consider; to suppose; as,
to take a thing for granted; this I take to be man's
motive; to take men for spies.

You take me right. --Bacon.

Charity, taken in its largest extent, is nothing
else but the science love of God and our
neighbor. --Wake.

[He] took that for virtue and affection which
was nothing but vice in a disguise. --South.

You'd doubt his sex, and take him for a girl.
--Tate.
(f) To accept the word or offer of; to receive and accept;
to bear; to submit to; to enter into agreement with;
-- used in general senses; as, to take a form or
shape.

I take thee at thy word. --Rowe.

Yet thy moist clay is pliant to command; . . .
Not take the mold. --Dryden.

To be taken aback, To take advantage of, To take air,
etc. See under Aback, Advantage, etc.

To take aim, to direct the eye or weapon; to aim.

To take along, to carry, lead, or convey.

To take arms, to commence war or hostilities.

To take away, to carry off; to remove; to cause deprivation
of; to do away with; as, a bill for taking away the votes
of bishops. ``By your own law, I take your life away.''
--Dryden.

To take breath, to stop, as from labor, in order to breathe
or rest; to recruit or refresh one's self.

To take care, to exercise care or vigilance; to be
solicitous. ``Doth God take care for oxen?'' --1 Cor. ix.
9.

To take care of, to have the charge or care of; to care
for; to superintend or oversee.

To take down.
(a) To reduce; to bring down, as from a high, or higher,
place; as, to take down a book; hence, to bring lower;
to depress; to abase or humble; as, to take down
pride, or the proud. ``I never attempted to be
impudent yet, that I was not taken down.''
--Goldsmith.
(b) To swallow; as, to take down a potion.
(c) To pull down; to pull to pieces; as, to take down a
house or a scaffold.
(d) To record; to write down; as, to take down a man's
words at the time he utters them.

To take effect, To take fire. See under Effect, and
Fire.

To take ground to the right or to the left (Mil.), to
extend the line to the right or left; to move, as troops,
to the right or left.

To take heart, to gain confidence or courage; to be
encouraged.

To take heed, to be careful or cautious. ``Take heed what
doom against yourself you give.'' --Dryden.

To take heed to, to attend with care, as, take heed to thy
ways.

To take hold of, to seize; to fix on.

To take horse, to mount and ride a horse.

To take in.
(a) To inclose; to fence.
(b) To encompass or embrace; to comprise; to comprehend.
(c) To draw into a smaller compass; to contract; to brail
or furl; as, to take in sail.
(d) To cheat; to circumvent; to gull; to deceive.
[Colloq.]
(e) To admit; to receive; as, a leaky vessel will take in
water.
(f) To win by conquest. [Obs.]

For now Troy's broad-wayed town He shall take
in. --Chapman.
(g) To receive into the mind or understanding. ``Some
bright genius can take in a long train of
propositions.'' --I. Watts.
(h) To receive regularly, as a periodical work or
newspaper; to take. [Eng.]

To take in hand. See under Hand.

To take in vain, to employ or utter as in an oath. ``Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.''
--Ex. xx. 7.

To take issue. See under Issue.

To take leave. See Leave, n., 2.

To take a newspaper, magazine, or the like, to receive it
regularly, as on paying the price of subscription.

To take notice, to observe, or to observe with particular
attention.

To take notice of. See under Notice.

To take oath, to swear with solemnity, or in a judicial
manner.

To take off.
(a) To remove, as from the surface or outside; to remove
from the top of anything; as, to take off a load; to
take off one's hat.
(b) To cut off; as, to take off the head, or a limb.
(c) To destroy; as, to take off life.
(d) To remove; to invalidate; as, to take off the force of
an argument.
(e) To withdraw; to call or draw away. --Locke.
(f) To swallow; as, to take off a glass of wine.
(g) To purchase; to take in trade. ``The Spaniards having
no commodities that we will take off.'' --Locke.
(h) To copy; to reproduce. ``Take off all their models in
wood.'' --Addison.
(i) To imitate; to mimic; to personate.
(k) To find place for; to dispose of; as, more scholars
than preferments can take off. [R.] --Bacon.



To take on, to assume; to take upon one's self; as, to take
on a character or responsibility.

To take one's own course, to act one's pleasure; to pursue
the measures of one's own choice.

To take order for. See under Order.

To take order with, to check; to hinder; to repress. [Obs.]
--Bacon.

To take orders.
(a) To receive directions or commands.
(b) (Eccl.) To enter some grade of the ministry. See
Order, n., 10.

To take out.
(a) To remove from within a place; to separate; to deduct.
(b) To draw out; to remove; to clear or cleanse from; as,
to take out a stain or spot from cloth.
(c) To produce for one's self; as, to take out a patent.


(d) To put an end to; as, to take the conceit out of a
man.
(e) To escort; as, to take out to dinner.



To take over, to undertake; to take the management of.
[Eng.] --Cross (Life of G. Eliot).

To take part, to share; as, they take part in our
rejoicing.

To take part with, to unite with; to join with.



To take place, root, sides, stock, etc. See under
Place, Root, Side, etc.

To take the air.
(a) (Falconry) To seek to escape by trying to rise higher
than the falcon; -- said of a bird.
(b) See under Air.

To take the field. (Mil.) See under Field.

To take thought, to be concerned or anxious; to be
solicitous. --Matt. vi. 25, 27.

To take to heart. See under Heart.

To take to task, to reprove; to censure.



To take up.
(a) To lift; to raise. --Hood.
(b) To buy or borrow; as, to take up goods to a large
amount; to take up money at the bank.
(c) To begin; as, to take up a lamentation. --Ezek. xix.
1.
(d) To gather together; to bind up; to fasten or to
replace; as, to take up raveled stitches; specifically
(Surg.), to fasten with a ligature.
(e) To engross; to employ; to occupy or fill; as, to take
up the time; to take up a great deal of room.
(f) To take permanently. ``Arnobius asserts that men of
the finest parts . . . took up their rest in the
Christian religion.'' --Addison.
(g) To seize; to catch; to arrest; as, to take up a thief;
to take up vagabonds.
(h) To admit; to believe; to receive. [Obs.]

The ancients took up experiments upon credit.
--Bacon.
(i) To answer by reproof; to reprimand; to berate.

One of his relations took him up roundly.
--L'Estrange.
(k) To begin where another left off; to keep up in
continuous succession.

Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon
takes up the wondrous tale. --Addison.


(l) To assume; to adopt as one's own; to carry on or
manage; as, to take up the quarrels of our neighbors;
to take up current opinions. ``They take up our old
trade of conquering.'' --Dryden.
(m) To comprise; to include. ``The noble poem of Palemon
and Arcite . . . takes up seven years.'' --Dryden.
(n) To receive, accept, or adopt for the purpose of
assisting; to espouse the cause of; to favor. --Ps.
xxvii. 10.
(o) To collect; to exact, as a tax; to levy; as, to take
up a contribution. ``Take up commodities upon our
bills.'' --Shak.
(p) To pay and receive; as, to take up a note at the bank.
(q) (Mach.) To remove, as by an adjustment of parts; as,
to take up lost motion, as in a bearing; also, to make
tight, as by winding, or drawing; as, to take up slack
thread in sewing.
(r) To make up; to compose; to settle; as, to take up a
quarrel. [Obs.] --Shak.



To take up arms. Same as To take arms, above.

To take upon one's self.
(a) To assume; to undertake; as, he takes upon himself to
assert that the fact is capable of proof.
(b) To appropriate to one's self; to allow to be imputed
to, or inflicted upon, one's self; as, to take upon
one's self a punishment.

To take up the gauntlet. See under Gauntlet.


Take, v. i.
1. To take hold; to fix upon anything; to have the natural or
intended effect; to accomplish a purpose; as, he was
inoculated, but the virus did not take. --Shak.

When flame taketh and openeth, it giveth a noise.
--Bacon.

In impressions from mind to mind, the impression
taketh, but is overcome . . . before it work any
manifest effect. --Bacon.

2. To please; to gain reception; to succeed.

Each wit may praise it for his own dear sake, And
hint he writ it, if the thing should take.
--Addison.

3. To move or direct the course; to resort; to betake one's
self; to proceed; to go; -- usually with to; as, the fox,
being hard pressed, took to the hedge.

4. To admit of being pictured, as in a photograph; as, his
face does not take well.

To take after.
(a) To learn to follow; to copy; to imitate; as, he takes
after a good pattern.
(b) To resemble; as, the son takes after his father.

To take in with, to resort to. [Obs.] --Bacon.

To take on, to be violently affected; to express grief or
pain in a violent manner.

To take to.
(a) To apply one's self to; to be fond of; to become
attached to; as, to take to evil practices. ``If he
does but take to you, . . . you will contract a great
friendship with him.'' --Walpole.
(b) To resort to; to betake one's self to. ``Men of
learning, who take to business, discharge it generally
with greater honesty than men of the world.''
--Addison.

To take up.
(a) To stop. [Obs.] ``Sinners at last take up and settle
in a contempt of religion.'' --Tillotson.
(b) To reform. [Obs.] --Locke.

To take up with.
(a) To be contended to receive; to receive without
opposition; to put up with; as, to take up with plain
fare. ``In affairs which may have an extensive
influence on our future happiness, we should not take
up with probabilities.'' --I. Watts.
(b) To lodge with; to dwell with. [Obs.] --L'Estrange.

To take with, to please. --Bacon.


Take, n.
1. That which is taken; especially, the quantity of fish
captured at one haul or catch.

2. (Print.) The quantity or copy given to a compositor at one
time.

Synonyms: accept, acquire, adopt, aim, ask, assume, assume, bring, call for, charter, choose, claim, conduct, consider, consume, contain, contract, convey, deal, demand, direct, direct, drive, engage, exact, fill, film, get, get hold of, guide, have, have, have, hire, hold, ingest, involve, issue, lead, learn, lease, look at, make, necessitate, need, occupy, pack, payoff, pick out, postulate, proceeds, read, remove, rent, require, return, select, shoot, strike, study, submit, subscribe, subscribe to, take aim, take away, take in, take on, take up, takings, train, undergo, use up, withdraw, yield

Antonyms: abstain, decline, desist, disclaim, eliminate, give, obviate, pass up, refrain, refuse, reject, rid of, turn down

See Also: abide, ablate, absorb, abstract, accept, acquire, act, admit, adopt, adopt, advance, affirm, amputate, annex, apply, appropriate, arrogate, ask, aspirate, assert, assign, assume, attach, audit, aver, avow, bail, bail out, bale out, bang, be, be, be intimate, beacon, bear, bear, bear away, bear away, bear off, bear off, become, bed, bone, bonk, booze, borrow, bring back, bring down, bring forward, bring on, bring out, bring up, brook, brush, bur, burl, burr, buy, call back, call for, call in, cancel, cannibalise, cannibalize, capture, carry, carry away, carry away, carry off, carry off, cast, cast off, center out, change, channel, charge, chip away, chip away at, church, cinematography, circumcise, clean, clear, clear away, clear off, clear out, clear up, clutch, collect, come, come down, come up, condense, confiscate, conquer, construe, contemplate, co-opt, cost, cover, cream, cream off, cream off, cross, crumb, cry for, cry out for, cull out, cut across, cut into, cut off, cut through, dally, debone, decalcify, decarbonise, decarbonize, decarburise, decarburize, decide, decoke, decorticate, deduct, defang, defuse, degas, dehorn, de-iodinate, de-ionate, delete, delouse, delve, demand, demineralise, demineralize, depilate, deprive, descale, desorb, despoil, determine, detoxicate, detoxify, detusk, dial, dig, disburden, discharge, disembowel, dislodge, dismantle, dismember, divest, do drugs, do it, do work, draw, draw, draw, draw, draw away, draw in, draw off, draw off, draw out, dredge, drill, drink, drive out, drop, drug, eat, economic rent, eff, elect, elevate, eliminate, empanel, employ, empty, endure, enter, enucleate, epilate, espouse, eviscerate, excavate, excerpt, exenterate, exercise, expectorate, expend, experience, extirpate, extort, extract, extract, feature, feed, ferry, fill, filming, find, fix, flick, follow, foray, free, fuck, fuddle, gather in, get, get, get, get across, get down, get down, get it on, get laid, get out, get over, get up, go, go, go with, govern, grab, gut, habituate, have, have, have a go at it, have intercourse, have it away, have it off, have sex, head, hit, hold, hollow, honor, honour, hull, hump, husk, hypophysectomise, hypophysectomize, imbibe, impanel, imply, impound, income, incur, interpret, involve, jazz, knock out, know, lade, laden, ladle, land, leach, lead astray, let down, level, lie with, lift, lift, lift out, lift out, limit, loot, love, lower, make love, make out, make up one's mind, misguide, misinterpret, mislead, misread, motion-picture photography, move, move, muck, necessitate, need, nominate, obtain, offsaddle, panel, partake, pass over, pick, pick, pick over, pillage, pit, place, play, plump, plunder, pocket, point, position, postulate, practice, practise, prehend, prepare, produce, propose, pull, pull off, pull out, pull up, purchase, put down, put down, put up, raise, ransack, ream, re-assume, reave, recall, recapture, receive, receive, record, relieve, rent, replete, repossess, require, rescue, resect, reshoot, retake, retake, retake, return, rifle, sack, sample, sate, satiate, scale, scale, scalp, scavenge, scoop, scoop, scoop out, scoop out, scoop up, scoop up, screen, screen out, screw, seat, see, seed, seize, seize, sequester, set, set apart, shake off, shed, shell, show, shuck, sicken, side, sieve, sieve out, sift, single out, skim, skim off, skim off, sleep, sleep with, smoke, snaffle, snap up, sop up, sort, specify, spoon, stand, steal, stomach, stone, string, strip, strip, subtract, suck in, suck in, suffer, sup, support, swallow, swan, swear, swing, tackle, take, take, take apart, take away, take away, take back, take back, take down, take in, take in, take off, take on, take on, take out, take out, take out, take over, take up, take up, take up, take up, target, taste, tear away, tear off, test, think about, think of, throw, throw away, throw off, tolerate, touch, track, train, transit, transmit, transport, traverse, trifle, try, try out, tube, turn, turn over, tusk, unbrace, unburden, unburden, undergo, undertake, undock, undress, unhinge, unpack, unsaddle, unstring, unveil, use, use, use, usher, usurp, utilise, utilize, verify, vote, vote in, warm to, wash, wash away, wash off, wash out, wear away, wear off, weed, welcome, whisk, win, winnow, wipe away, wipe off, withdraw, work

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