19 English Phrasal Verbs With 'TAKE'

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19 phrasal verbs with 'TAKE'

Take aback

1. Surprise or shock
   (Separable [obligatory] | International English)
   
   » Example: The news of her death TOOK me ABACK.

Take after

1. Look like, resemble
   (Inseparable | International English)
   
   » Example: He TAKES AFTER his mother.

Take apart

1. Take something to pieces
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: She TOOK the photocopier APART to see what had got stuck in it.

Take aside

1. Get someone alone to talk to them
   (Separable [obligatory] | International English)
   
   » Example: The teacher TOOK her ASIDE and said that she'd failed the exam.

Take away

1. Remove
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The police TOOK the protestors AWAY.

Take back

1. Make someone nostalgic
   (Separable [obligatory] | International English)
   
   » Example: That song always TAKES me BACK to when I was at university.
2. Retract a statement, admit that something was wrong
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: I had to TAKE BACK everything bad I'd said about them when I learned how they'd helped out.

Take down

1. Make notes or write down in full
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The police TOOK DOWN his answers to their questions.
2. Remove
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: People TAKE DOWN their Christmas decorations twelve days after Christmas.

Take for

1. Believe that someone is a certain kind of person
   (Separable [obligatory] | International English)
   
   » Example: Do you TAKE me FOR a fool?

Take in

1. Absorb information
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The lecture was rather boring and I didn't TAKE IN much of what the lecturer said.
2. Deceive
   (Separable [obligatory] | International English)
   
   » Example: She TOOK me IN with her story until someone told me the truth.
3. Make clothes smaller
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The jacket was far too big around the shoulders, so I had it TAKEN IN so that I could wear it.
4. Assume care or support
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The family TOOK IN the three homeless kittens.

Take it

1. Accept criticism
   (Inseparable | International English)
   
   » Example: He's good at criticising others, but can't TAKE IT himself.

Take it out on

1. Abuse someone because you're angry
   (Separable [obligatory] | International English)
   
   » Example: Whenever things go wrong, he always shouts and TAKES IT OUT ON me, even if I had nothing to do with the problem.

Take it upon yourself

1. Take responsibility, often without consulting other people
   (Intransitive | International English)
   
   » Example: I TOOK IT UPON MYSELF to make sure he got up on time.

Take off

1. Make great progress
   (Intransitive | International English)
   
   » Example: The software house really TOOK OFF when they produced the latest version of their DTP package.
2. Reduce the price of an item
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: They've TAKEN ten percent OFF designer frames for glasses.
3. When a plane departs or leaves the ground
   (Intransitive | International English)
   
   » Example: The flight for Dublin TOOK OFF on time.
4. Remove
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: It was hot, so I TOOK my jacket OFF.

Take on

1. Allow passengers on a ship or plane
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The plane stopped at Zurich to TAKE ON some passengers.
2. Assume a responsibility
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: She TOOK ON the task of indexing the book.
3. Employ
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The council has had to TAKE ON twenty extra employees to handle their increased workload.

Take out

1. Borrow a library book
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: I TOOK OUT all the books I needed for my essay from the library.
2. Borrow money from a bank or other official lender
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: Jackie and Anil TOOK OUT a mortgage to buy a bigger flat.
3. Extract or remove
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The dentist TOOK OUT all of my wisdom teeth before they started causing any problems.
4. Go out socially with someone, especially a date
   (Separable [obligatory] | International English)
   
   » Example: He TOOK her OUT to a restaurant last Friday night.
5. Obtain insurance
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: I TOOK OUT some health insurance before I went backpacking around Latin America.
6. Kill, murder
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The gang TOOK him OUT after he spoke to the police.

Take over

1. Assume control of a company or organisation
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The bank was TAKEN OVER by a Hong Kong bank that needed to buy a bank to get into the British market.
2. Start a job or position that someone had occupied before you
   (Inseparable | International English)
   
   » Example: She TOOK OVER responsibility for the project last month.

Take through

1. Explain something to someone
   (Separable [obligatory] | International English)
   
   » Example: He TOOK me THROUGH the procedures before we started.

Take to

1. Make a habit of something
   (Inseparable | International English)
   
   » Example: He's TAKEN TO wearing a baseball cap since his hair started thinning more noticeably.

Take up

1. Fill or occupy time or space
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: An awful lot of my time at work is TAKEN UP with pointless bureaucracy nowadays.
2. Make clothes shorter
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: The trousers were too long so I TOOK them UP to make them fit.
3. Start a new hobby, pastime, etc.
   (Separable [optional] | International English)
   
   » Example: He TOOK UP squash as he felt he had to lose some weight.
4. Accept an offer
   (Separable [obligatory] | International English)
   
   » Example: I will TAKE you UP on the job offer.

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