[Grammar] Take Her By The Arm To

[learningspirit]

I have a question about usage of "take". In this dictionary, definition 1 for "take" reads:

"to move something or someone from one place to another"


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In the same entry, definition 7 for "take" reads:

"to reach out and get something, especially with your hand"


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Then, on google, there is this sentence:

"He then led the victim out the back door of the apartment, telling her not to tell anyone what had happened.   Finally, he took her by the arm to a nearby wooded area.   When she screamed Carter killed her. "


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The usage in the example seems to compress the two senses of "take" into a single phrase. Could it be nonstandard?

 

[Raymott]

It's a normal, common usage.
One of the examples in your link definition 7 says "take someone by the arm/hand etc: Her mother took her gently by the shoulders."

 

[learningspirit]

@Raymott

Would this:

"He grabbed her by the arm and took her into a nearby wooded area."

be better?

 

[MikeNewYork]

That is a completely different meaning. It implies force.

 

[learningspirit]

@MikeNewYork

So, this:

"He took her by the arm into a wooded area."

is standard English? How about this:

"He grabbed her by the arm into a wooded area."

?

 

[MikeNewYork]

The first works for me. The second doesn't.

 

[learningspirit]

@MikeNewYork

Would this:

"He took her into a wooded area by the arm."


work?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes. What are you trying to get at?

 

[learningspirit]

@MikeNewYork

It's just that if you look at my post #1, both definition 1 and definition 7 are used by the example.

Also, in:

"He took her by the arm into a nearby wooded area."

the phrase "by the arm" does not modify the noun "her". It modifies the verb "took".

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think both 'by the arm' and 'into a nearby wooded area' modify 'took'.
Do you mean a single verb should not be modified by two prepositional phrases?

Not a teacher.

 

[Raymott]

It's just that if you look at my post #1, both definition 1 and definition 7 are used by the example.

There's nothing sacrosanct about dictionary definitions. So what if your example can use two entries? If they put twice as many meanings (which they could), you might find four definitions that could apply. What then?
The important point is, "Do you understand the sentence?". The reason for dictionaries putting so many definitions and examples is just this.
Authors generally don't 'compress' two meanings into a word (poets do). They simply use the appropriate word, and if a dictionary comes along and gives two definitions that fit "take", the author will lose no sleep at all over this, and nor should you.

However, if you really do have trouble with the meaning, "The guy grabbed onto her arm, and dragged her into the wooded area (by the arm)." Yes, it's true that he did take her by the arm, and then he did take her into the woods by the arm; and the author only uses 'take' once. But that would normally not cause any interest unless it was a very dense poetic piece with widely different meanings of take.
You could reasonably object to "The doctor took her temperature and her clothes off."