Phrasal Verb 'Take'

We have 37 phrasal verb definitions related to 'Take'.

Take aback

Meaning: Surprise or shock

Example: The news of her death TOOK me ABACK.

Notes:

• Separable [obligatory]
• International English

Take after

Meaning: Look like, resemble

Example: He TAKES AFTER his mother.

Notes:

• Inseparable
• International English

Take apart

Meaning: Take something to pieces

Example: She TOOK the photocopier APART to see what had got stuck in it.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take aside

Meaning: Get someone alone to talk to them

Example: The teacher TOOK her ASIDE and said that she'd failed the exam.

Notes:

• Separable [obligatory]
• International English

Take away

Meaning: Remove

Example: The police TOOK the protestors AWAY.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take back

Meaning: Make someone nostalgic

Example: That song always TAKES me BACK to when I was at university.

Notes:

• Separable [obligatory]
• International English

Take back

Meaning: Retract a statement, admit that something was wrong

Example: I had to TAKE BACK everything bad I'd said about them when I learned how they'd helped out.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take down

Meaning: Make notes or write down in full

Example: The police TOOK DOWN his answers to their questions.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take down

Meaning: Remove

Example: People TAKE DOWN their Christmas decorations twelve days after Christmas.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take for

Meaning: Believe that someone is a certain kind of person

Example: Do you TAKE me FOR a fool?

Notes:

• Separable [obligatory]
• International English

Take in

Meaning: Absorb information

Example: The lecture was rather boring and I didn't TAKE IN much of what the lecturer said.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take in

Meaning: Deceive

Example: She TOOK me IN with her story until someone told me the truth.

Notes:

• Separable [obligatory]
• International English

Take in

Meaning: Make clothes smaller

Example: The jacket was far too big around the shoulders, so I had it TAKEN IN so that I could wear it.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take in

Meaning: Assume care or support

Example: The family TOOK IN the three homeless kittens.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take it

Meaning: Accept criticism

Example: He's good at criticising others, but can't TAKE IT himself.

Notes:

• Inseparable
• International English

Take it out on

Meaning: Abuse someone because you're angry

Example: Whenever things go wrong, he always shouts and TAKES IT OUT ON me, even if I had nothing to do with the problem.

Notes:

• Separable [obligatory]
• International English

Take it upon yourself

Meaning: Take responsibility, often without consulting other people

Example: I TOOK IT UPON MYSELF to make sure he got up on time.

Notes:

• Intransitive
• International English

Take off

Meaning: Make great progress

Example: The software house really TOOK OFF when they produced the latest version of their DTP package.

Notes:

• Intransitive
• International English

Take off

Meaning: Reduce the price of an item

Example: They've TAKEN ten percent OFF designer frames for glasses.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take off

Meaning: When a plane departs or leaves the ground

Example: The flight for Dublin TOOK OFF on time.

Notes:

• Intransitive
• International English

Take off

Meaning: Remove

Example: It was hot, so I TOOK my jacket OFF.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take on

Meaning: Allow passengers on a ship or plane

Example: The plane stopped at Zurich to TAKE ON some passengers.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take on

Meaning: Assume a responsibility

Example: She TOOK ON the task of indexing the book.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take on

Meaning: Employ

Example: The council has had to TAKE ON twenty extra employees to handle their increased workload.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take out

Meaning: Borrow a library book

Example: I TOOK OUT all the books I needed for my essay from the library.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take out

Meaning: Borrow money from a bank or other official lender

Example: Jackie and Anil TOOK OUT a mortgage to buy a bigger flat.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take out

Meaning: Extract or remove

Example: The dentist TOOK OUT all of my wisdom teeth before they started causing any problems.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take out

Meaning: Go out socially with someone, especially a date

Example: He TOOK her OUT to a restaurant last Friday night.

Notes:

• Separable [obligatory]
• International English

Take out

Meaning: Obtain insurance

Example: I TOOK OUT some health insurance before I went backpacking around Latin America.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take out

Meaning: Kill, murder

Example: The gang TOOK him OUT after he spoke to the police.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take over

Meaning: Assume control of a company or organisation

Example: The bank was TAKEN OVER by a Hong Kong bank that needed to buy a bank to get into the British market.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take over

Meaning: Start a job or position that someone had occupied before you

Example: She TOOK OVER responsibility for the project last month.

Notes:

• Inseparable
• International English

Take through

Meaning: Explain something to someone

Example: He TOOK me THROUGH the procedures before we started.

Notes:

• Separable [obligatory]
• International English

Take to

Meaning: Make a habit of something

Example: He's TAKEN TO wearing a baseball cap since his hair started thinning more noticeably.

Notes:

• Inseparable
• International English

Take up

Meaning: Fill or occupy time or space

Example: An awful lot of my time at work is TAKEN UP with pointless bureaucracy nowadays.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take up

Meaning: Make clothes shorter

Example: The trousers were too long so I TOOK them UP to make them fit.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English

Take up

Meaning: Start a new hobby, pastime, etc.

Example: He TOOK UP squash as he felt he had to lose some weight.

Notes:

• Separable [optional]
• International English