take — OET · Shobdo

take

verb

1 Anna smiled as she took his hand:

lay hold of, take hold of, get hold of, get into one's hands;

grasp, grip, clasp, clutch, grab.

▷antonyms give.

2 he took an envelope from his inside pocket:

remove, pull, draw, withdraw, extract, fish;

confiscate, take possession of.

▷antonyms give.

3 the following passage is taken from my book ‘Managing Stress’:

extract, quote, cite, excerpt, derive, abstract, reproduce, copy, cull, choose.

4 she took a little wine with her dinner:

drink, imbibe;

consume, swallow, eat, ingest.

5 many thousands of prisoners were taken:

capture, seize, catch, take captive, arrest, apprehend, take into custody;

carry off, abduct, lay hold of;

trap, snare.

▷antonyms free, liberate.

6 these thieving toerags have taken my car:

steal, remove, appropriate, misappropriate, make off with, pilfer, purloin, abstract, dispossess someone of;

informal filch, swipe, snaffle, walk off with;

British, informal pinch, nick;

rare peculate.

▷antonyms give.

7 take the bottom number from the total:

subtract, deduct, remove, take away/off;

discount;

informal knock off, minus.

▷antonyms add.

8 all the seats had been taken:

occupy, use, utilize, fill, hold;

reserve, engage;

informal bag.

9 I have just taken a room in a nearby house:

rent, lease, hire, charter;

reserve, book, make a reservation for, arrange for, engage.

10 I decided to take the job:

accept, take up, take on, undertake.

▷antonyms refuse.

11 I'd take childbirth today over what my grandmother had to go through:

pick, choose, select, decide on, settle on, fix on, single out;

prefer, favour, opt for, plump for, vote for, elect.

▷antonyms refuse, turn down.

12 take, for instance, the English word ‘one’:

consider, ponder, contemplate, think about, weigh up, give thought to, mull over, deliberate over, examine, study, cogitate about, chew over, meditate over, ruminate over.

13 he takes ‘The Observer’:

subscribe to, pay a subscription to, buy regularly, read regularly, read every day/week/month.

14 a nurse took his temperature:

ascertain, determine, establish, measure, find out, discover;

calculate, compute, count, quantify, evaluate, rate, assess, appraise, gauge.

15 she started to take notes:

write, note (down), make a note of, set down, jot (down), scribble, scrawl, take down, record, register, document, minute, put in writing, commit to paper.

16 I took it back to London with me:

bring, carry, bear, transport, convey, move, transfer, shift, haul, drag, lug, cart, ferry;

informal tote.

17 she let the priest take her home:

escort, accompany, help, assist, show, lead, show someone the way, lead the way, conduct, guide, see, usher, steer, pilot, shepherd, convey.

18 he took the North London line to Acton:

travel on, travel by, journey on, go via;

use, make use of, utilize.

19 the station takes its name from the nearby lake:

derive, get, obtain, come by, acquire, pick up, be given.

20 she took the prize for best individual speaker:

receive, obtain, gain, get, acquire, collect, accept, be given, be presented with, be awarded, have conferred on one;

secure, procure, come by, win, earn, pick up, walk away/off with, carry off;

informal land, bag, net, scoop, cop.

21 she feared that I might take the chance to postpone the ceremony:

act on, take advantage of, capitalize on, use, exploit, make the most of, leap at, jump on, pounce on, seize (on), grasp, grab, snatch, accept, put to advantage, profit from, turn to account, cash in on.

▷antonyms miss, ignore.

22 he took great pleasure in creating his own individual style:

derive, draw, acquire, obtain, get, gain, extract, procure;

experience, undergo, feel, encounter, know, come into contact with, face.

23 Elizabeth took the news of my sacking badly:

receive, respond to, react to, meet, greet;

deal with, cope with.

24 do you take me for a fool?:

regard as, consider to be, view as, look on as, see as, believe to be, think of as, reckon to be, imagine to be, deem to be, hold to be, judge to be.

25 I take it that you are George Tenison:

assume, presume, suppose, imagine, expect, believe, reckon, think, be of the opinion, gather, dare say, trust, surmise, deduce, guess, conjecture, fancy, suspect;

take for granted, take as read.

26 I take your point:

understand, grasp, get, comprehend, apprehend, see, follow, take in;

accept, appreciate, accept/acknowledge/admit the validity of, recognize, sympathize with, agree with.

27 Shirley was rather taken with this idea:

captivate, enchant, charm, delight, attract, win over, fascinate, bewitch, beguile, enthral, entrance, lure, infatuate, seduce, dazzle, hypnotize, mesmerize;

please, amuse, divert, entertain, gladden, satisfy, gratify;

informal tickle someone pink, tickle someone's fancy.

28 I can't take much more of this business:

endure, bear, suffer, tolerate, stand, put up with, stomach, brook, abide, carry, submit to, accept, permit, allow, admit, countenance, support, shoulder;

Scottish thole.

29 applicants may be asked to take a test:

perform, execute, effect, discharge, carry out, accomplish, fulfil, complete, conduct, implement, do, make, have;

rare effectuate.

30 I went on to take English, History, and French:

study, learn, be taught, have lessons in;

read up on, work at, apply oneself to, acquire a knowledge of, gain an understanding of, grasp, master;

take up, pursue;

British read;

informal do.

31 the journey should take a little over six hours:

last, continue for, go on for, carry on for, keep on for, run on for, endure for;

require, call for, need, necessitate, entail, involve.

32 it would take an expert marksman with a high-powered rifle to hit him:

require, need, necessitate, demand, call for, entail, involve.

33 I take size 3 in shoes:

wear, habitually wear, use;

require, need, be fitted by, fit.

34 we tried to bring the children up to think this way, but somehow it did not take:

be effective, have/take effect, take hold, take root, be efficacious, be productive, be in force, be in operation, be efficient, be effectual, be useful;

work, operate, succeed, function.

□ take after

Jenny takes after her mother:

resemble, look like, be like, be similar to, bear a resemblance to, have the look of;

remind one of, put one in mind of, make one think of, cause one to remember, recall, conjure up, suggest, evoke, call up;

informal favour, be a chip off the old block, be the spitting image of.

□ take a seat (also take a chair)

take a seat, I'll be with you in a second:

sit down, sit, seat oneself, settle (oneself), install oneself, plant oneself, ensconce oneself, plump oneself down, plop oneself down;

flump, perch;

informal take a pew, plonk oneself down.

□ take against

Bernard soon took against the idea:

take a dislike to, feel hostile towards, view with disfavour, look askance on, become unfriendly towards.

□ take something apart

we took the machines apart several times:

dismantle, pull/take to pieces, pull/take to bits, pull apart, disassemble, break up;

tear down, demolish, destroy, pulverize, wreck, smash, shatter.

▷antonyms put together, assemble.

□ take someone or something apart

informal

she was relishing the sight of me being taken apart by the director:

criticize, attack, censure, condemn, denigrate, find fault with, pillory, maul, lambast, flay, savage;

informal knock, slam, pan, bash, crucify, hammer, lay into, roast, skewer.

▷antonyms lavish praise on.

□ take someone back

1 a dream which took me back to my first year in Vienna:

evoke, awaken/evoke one's memories of, remind one of, put one in mind of, conjure up, summon up, call up;

echo, suggest, smack of.

2 if she apologizes I will take her back:

be reconciled to, forgive, pardon, excuse, exonerate, absolve;

accept back, welcome, receive;

let bygones be bygones, forgive and forget, bury the hatchet.

□ take something back

1 I take back every word I said:

retract, withdraw, renounce, disclaim, disown, unsay, disavow, recant, abjure, repudiate, override;

back-pedal.

▷antonyms stand by.

2 I must take the keys back to the steward:

return, carry back, bring back, fetch back, give back, hand back, send back, restore, remit.

▷antonyms keep, hang on to.

3 I'd damaged the box so the shop wouldn't take it back:

accept back, give a refund for, exchange, trade, swap.

4 the Romans took back the city in the following year:

regain, repossess, reclaim, retrieve, recover, recoup, restore, get back;

recapture, reconquer.

▷antonyms give away, cede.

□ take someone by surprise

executives were taken by surprise when sales dropped off late last year:

take aback, surprise, shock, stun, stagger, astound, astonish, startle;

dumbfound, daze, nonplus, stop someone in their tracks, stupefy, take someone's breath away;

shake (up), jolt, throw, unnerve, disconcert, disturb, disquiet, unsettle, discompose, bewilder;

informal flabbergast, knock for six, knock sideways, knock out, floor, strike dumb.

□ take something down

1 the policeman took down her particulars:

write down, note down, make a note of, jot down, set down, mark down, record, put on record, commit to paper, put in black and white, register, draft, document, minute, pen.

2 we took down the lighting rig at the end of the shoot:

remove, dismantle, disassemble, unfasten, separate, take apart, take to pieces, take out, disconnect;

demolish, tear down, level, raze.

▷antonyms leave in place.

3 they insisted he take down the flag:

pull down, let down, haul down, move down, lower, drop, let fall, let sink.

▷antonyms pull up, haul up.

□ take someone in

1 Mrs Smith took in paying guests:

accommodate, board, house, feed, put up, take care of, admit, let in, receive, welcome, take, billet, harbour.

▷antonyms turn someone away.

2 you were taken in by an elaborate trick:

deceive, delude, hoodwink, mislead, trick, dupe, fool, cheat, defraud, swindle, outwit, gull, humbug, bluff, hoax, bamboozle;

informal con, bilk, pull the wool over someone's eyes, put one over on;

archaic cozen.

□ take something in

1 at first she could hardly take in the news:

comprehend, understand, grasp, follow, absorb, soak in, assimilate, make out;

informal get.

2 this route takes in some of the most dramatic cliffs in Britain | this route takes in some of the most dramatic views in Colorado:

include, encompass, embrace, contain, comprise, cover, incorporate, embody, comprehend, subsume, envelop;

digest, assimilate;

admit, hold.

□ take someone in hand

someone has to take him in hand:

control, have authority over, be in charge of, direct, preside over, lead, dominate, master;

reform, improve, correct, change, make better, rehabilitate.

□ take something in hand

the time has come to take matters in hand:

deal with, apply oneself to, address oneself to, get to grips with, get stuck into, busy oneself with, set one's hand to, grapple with, take on, attend to, see to, sort out, take care of, pursue, handle, manage;

start on, embark on;

formal commence.

□ take it out of

I'd had no idea how much hauling one of those things around would take it out of you:

exhaust, drain, enervate, tire, fatigue, wear out, weary, debilitate, jade;

informal fag out, whack, bush, knacker, poop.

□ take off

1 I walked up to the horse, but he took off at a great speed:

run away, run off, flee, abscond, take flight, decamp, disappear, leave, go, depart, make off, bolt, make a run/break for it, take to one's heels, beat a hasty retreat, make a quick exit, make one's getaway, escape, head for the hills;

informal split, beat it, clear off, clear out, skedaddle, vamoose, hightail it, light out.

▷antonyms stay put.

2 the plane took off:

become airborne, leave the ground, take to the air, take wing;

be launched, lift off, blast off.

▷antonyms land, touch down.

3 the idea really took off:

succeed, do well, become popular, catch on, progress, prosper, flourish, thrive, boom, turn out well, work (out).

▷antonyms fail, flop.

□ take someone off

British, informal

he takes off the Prime Minister very well:

mimic, impersonate, imitate, ape, parody, mock, caricature, satirize, burlesque, lampoon, ridicule;

informal spoof, do, send up.

□ take oneself off

I took myself off to the office:

withdraw, retire, take one's leave, make one's departure, leave, exit, depart, go away, pull out, quit, make oneself scarce;

informal clear off, clear out.

▷antonyms stay put.

□ take something off

1 they'd put a tinned steak and kidney pudding in the oven and forgotten to take its lid off:

detach, remove, pull off;

cut off, clip off, hack off, chop off, prune off, nip off;

extract, sever, separate.

▷antonyms leave on.

2 she took off her clothes and folded them carefully:

remove, doff, divest oneself of, shed, strip off, pull off, peel off, climb out of, slip out of, shrug off, throw off, cast off, fling off, fling aside, discard.

▷antonyms put on.

3 it might help to take a pound or two off the price:

deduct, subtract, take away, remove.

□ take on

British, informal

don't take on so!:

get upset, make a fuss, break down, get excited, go too far, lose one's sense of proportion, overreact;

informal lose one's cool, get in a tizzy.

▷antonyms keep calm.

□ take someone on

1 they could find no major challenger to take him on:

compete against, oppose, challenge, confront, face, fight, pit/match oneself against, vie with, contend with/against, battle with/against, struggle against, take up cudgels against, stand up to, go head to head against.

2 the Home Office took on extra staff:

engage, hire, employ, enrol, enlist, sign up, take into employment, put on the payroll;

informal take on board.

▷antonyms fire, dismiss.

□ take something on

1 he took on additional responsibility:

undertake, accept, take on oneself, tackle, turn one's hand to, adopt, assume, shoulder, embrace, acquire, carry, bear, support;

informal have a go at.

2 in this polarized society, even the narrowest psychological study took on political meaning:

acquire, assume, come to have, come by.

▷antonyms abandon, give up.

□ take someone out

the very first night he took her out, Frank proposed to her:

go out with, escort, partner, accompany, go with;

romance, court, woo, go courting with;

informal date, see, go steady with.

□ take someone or something out

informal

they were taken out by a sniper:

kill, murder, assassinate, put to death, do away with, put an end to, get rid of, dispatch, execute, finish off, eliminate, exterminate, terminate;

destroy, obliterate, annihilate;

informal do in, bump off, rub out, wipe out, hit, mow down, top;

literary slay.

□ take something out

that tooth will need to be taken out:

extract, remove, pull (out), yank out, tug out, pluck out, prise out, separate, detach, draw;

British, informal hoick out.

▷antonyms put in.

□ take something over

she took over the editorship in 1989:

assume control of, take control of, gain control of, take charge of, take command of, assume responsibility for;

assume, acquire, gain, appropriate, be elevated to.

□ take one's time

he took his time going through the papers:

go slowly, not hurry, be leisurely, proceed in a leisurely fashion, dally, dawdle, delay, linger, go at a snail's pace, drag one's feet, waste time, while away time, kill time;

informal dilly-dally;

archaic or literary tarry.

▷antonyms hurry, rush.

□ take to

1 after being mugged a few months back, he had taken to carrying his money in different parts of his clothing:

make a habit of, resort to, turn to, have recourse to, begin, start;

formal commence.

▷antonyms stop.

2 Ruth took to Mrs Taylor the moment she opened the door:

develop a liking for, like, get on with, become friendly with;

informal take a shine to.

▷antonyms dislike.

3 the dog has really taken to hurdles racing:

become good at, develop an ability/aptitude for, be suitable for;

develop a liking for, like, enjoy, become interested in.

□ take something up

1 we took up our bags and left:

pick up, grab, scoop up, gather up, snatch up, swoop up;

carry;

lift up, raise, uplift, heft, heave, elevate.

▷antonyms put down, drop.

2 in the thirties he took up abstract painting:

become involved in, become interested in, engage in, participate in, take part in, practise, follow;

begin, start;

formal commence.

▷antonyms give up, drop.

3 she found that the meetings took up all her time:

consume, fill, absorb, use, use up, occupy;

cover, extend over;

waste, squander, go through.

4 her cousin took up the story:

resume, recommence, restart, begin again, carry on, continue, carry on with, pick up, return to.

5 he had decided to take up their offer of employment:

accept, say yes to, agree to, accede to, adopt, get, gain.

▷antonyms refuse.

6 you'll need to take the skirt up an inch or two:

shorten, make shorter, turn up;

raise, lift, make higher.

□ take up with

she took up with a middle-aged art historian:

become friendly with, become friends with, go around with, go along with, fall in with, join up with, string along with, get involved with, start seeing;

informal knock about with, knock around with, hang around/out with, hang about with.

noun

1 the whalers' commercial take:

catch, haul, bag, yield, net.

2 he is determined to increase the state's tax take:

revenue, income, gain, profit, money received, payments received;

takings, proceeds, returns, receipts, profits, winnings, pickings, earnings, spoils;

in sport gate money, purse;

British, informal bunce.

3 you need someone with a clapperboard at the start of each take:

scene, sequence, filmed sequence, clip, part, segment.

4 her wry and knowing take on sex and gender issues:

view of, reading of, version of, interpretation of, understanding of, account of, explanation of, analysis of, approach to.

take Oxford Dictionary of English