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to take

to take

297 6.1
Become ill or suddenly feel unwell
  • verb
  • /teɪk/
: ponerse
  • You know, I couldn't take losing my career.
  • take its toll
  • taken aback

Oh my God, because she was taking my wife's death hard.

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Examples

  • Why are we evolved to take deaths so harshly?

  • As his father expresses it, it seems to take a great deal out of him.

  • And it's real hard for me to take, you know?

  • This trip has taken a toll on me.

  • I think he's a bit taken with drink.

  • I wasn't sure how to take the news that I had been accepted into the program.

  • After hearing the criticism, he found it hard to take in what was said.

  • When my friend fell ill, it was tough for me to take the possibility of losing her.

Synonyms

to get
vsto take
∞ 1.0

To receive something, for example by buying it or finding it

is about being affected or contracting rather than obtaining objects
to have
vsto take
∞ 1.0

To experience an illness, feeling, or problem

focuses on contracting or being affected by illness or strong feeling
to suffer
vsto take
∞ 2.0

To feel pain or be ill

is more neutral about being affected rather than stressing pain
to contract
vsto take
70 4.3

Get an illness, for example the flu

also covers non-disease feelings not only infections
to take ill
vsto take
10 5.6

To become sick suddenly

is neutral about speed and includes contracting feelings too

Antonyms

865 2.5

Get back to a normal state after a loss, for example health or money

726 1.2

To become healthy again after an injury, illness, or emotional pain

Idioms

62 6.8

To do something without asking for permission, as if you are allowed

56 4.0

About an amount that may be a little more or less

to take a hike
  • Informal
36 8.1

Tell someone to leave in a rude way

31 3.1

A situation where people both accept and give up things to make an agreement

Politely say no now but suggest doing it another time

To do the right thing and not respond angrily

to take a bullet
  • Informal
23 7.2

To accept pain or risk to protect another person

23 4.6

An offer you cannot change that you must accept or refuse

21 3.7

Bend forward to thank people who clap for you

Choose any one you want from the options

Make a brave decision even when it feels risky

to take a joke
  • Informal
19 3.3

To not be upset when someone makes a joke about you

16 8.3

To refuse to answer questions in court to avoid saying something that could make you look guilty

15 6.4

To accept something unpleasant so other people benefit

to take the cake
  • Informal
15 7.6

The most extreme example, often surprising in a bad or silly way

To lead an organization, group, or project

to take a wife
  • Archaic
13 9.2

To marry a woman

12 3.6

Focus on today and do not worry about the future

to take a gander
  • Informal
11 8.2

To look quickly and casually at something you are curious about

9 8.2

Accept failure or criticism bravely without complaining

To fall suddenly, for example by tripping or by losing value

6 5.2

Make a lot of effort and be careful about small details

Begin attacking or acting aggressively to gain an advantage

Act in a less honest way to get an advantage

To deal with a difficult problem directly and bravely

4 6.6

To show respect and praise for someone and their achievements

To not approve of something

Refuse to answer questions in court or by police to avoid saying you did something wrong

To admire and respect someone for what they have done

3 8.0

Get medical help for an illness or addiction

2 9.2

To accept a painful truth that changes what you believed

Need to be brave to do something

Stop paying attention to what is important

to take a mile
  • Informal
2 8.4

Use a small favor to get much more

2 9.9

To do very well and act confidently, often in a forceful way

To accept some demands while giving up some of your own

To guess or try something without much information

1 9.9

A situation where people who should not lead control things and cause chaos

Get a lot of criticism or blame from other people

Be completely sure that something is true or will happen

1 9.5

To tell someone rudely to leave

Join a convent and live as a nun

Copy what someone does to get the same results

1 4.9

To understand and accept that someone's remark makes sense even if you do not agree

To be the most annoying or surprising thing of all

To make someone lose the job or money they need to live

Lead a meeting as the person in charge

Allowing a small favor makes someone try to take much more than you wanted

to take a pew
  • Archaic
1 9.8

To sit down, often on a church seat but also anywhere

Accept the good and bad parts of a situation

1 8.1

To accept a public challenge to show you will compete

1 4.1

Make someone feel very surprised and unable to speak

Phrasal Verbs

∞ 1.3

To look after a person or thing and deal with their needs

∞ 1.3

To look after someone or deal with a problem

Go with a person to bring them to a place

∞ 1.9

To remove something from a place or container

∞ 1.5

To remove clothes or something from your body

∞ 2.3

To remove something from a place or reduce something important, for example a right

∞ 1.3

To look at something to check it or find information

∞ 1.8

Happen, especially when something is planned or scheduled

900 3.8

Gain control of a company, organization, or government

744 2.3

To need a long time to finish

Think something is important and pay attention to it

599 2.1

Return someone or something to the place they came from

To use a person or situation to get an unfair benefit for yourself

577 2.8

To agree to do a job or task

549 3.2

To leave a place quickly, often to travel somewhere else

543 1.4

To stop doing something for a short time to rest or relax before continuing

Use someone's trust or weakness to get something unfairly

to take it easy
  • Informal
431 2.5

Relax and avoid doing too much or worrying

417 3.1

Begin to control someone else's job or project

412 3.8

Do something risky hoping to do well

400 3.0

Get back something you had given, lent, or lost

388 2.8

To do something to solve a problem or make a change

326 3.2

Do things that might be dangerous to get something important

To admit you caused a problem and accept the blame

313 3.1

To stop working for a short time

300 2.8

Compete against someone, for example in a sport or game

299 4.9

Think something is true from what someone has said or shown

294 1.8

To move something from a high place to a lower place

270 3.4

To begin a job, activity, or hobby

262 2.3

To invite someone to go out with you for a date

252 3.5

Start to have power and make decisions about something

252 3.4

Allow someone to live in your home when they need help

To breathe in and out once to calm yourself or prepare to speak

207 3.0

To remove something that is fixed or standing, for example stage equipment

To make a photo using a camera

205 4.1

To believe something is true without checking it

201 1.4

To join in an activity with other people

199 1.8

To be careful to avoid danger

180 2.0

To lift something up, often with a spoon or tool

178 3.4

Pay attention to something to remember or think about it

178 4.1

Consider a fact or idea and include it when making a decision

Consider something when making a decision

166 3.5

To use a large part of time, space, or attention

164 1.0

To use a camera or phone to make a picture

152 3.5

Say that what you said before was wrong and you no longer believe it

Pull air slowly into your lungs to calm yourself

146 3.2

To remove something unwanted from a place

To do something risky hoping for a good result

129 3.6

Start to seem or show a particular quality

124 1.9

To leave the ground and begin to fly

123 3.6

Begin work in an official job after being elected or appointed

119 1.0

To wash and relax in a tub of warm water

102 3.2

To accept and follow directions from a person in charge

101 3.5

Start to control a group or situation and lead others

98 3.0

To become successful or popular very quickly

93 1.8

Do something one after another, each person doing it in order

91 6.0

To speak in court as a witness about what you saw

90 3.8

To begin either to like someone or to do something regularly as a habit

88 3.9

Visit a place or event to enjoy it

to take forever
  • Informal
85 3.4

Lasts much longer than expected

To stop work for a short time to rest or deal with personal matters

83 3.0

To separate something into parts so it can be moved or fixed

Do things to avoid harm or danger

to take back
  • Informal
82 3.1

Make someone remember a time from the past

to take down
  • Informal
82 5.1

To say cruel things to make people think less of someone

78 3.4

To get an official document or permit from an office

77 7.7

Act too familiar with someone or their things without asking

Start to work and produce a result

Go somewhere by bus

73 3.4

To feel pleased about something you or others do

To change direction or the way things are going, often suddenly

69 3.9

Begin a relationship again with someone after it ended

To start guiding a group or activity and make the main decisions

Compounds

38 3.2

The main point to remember from a talk or meeting

12 3.4

Money you get after taxes and other deductions

double take
  • Informal
11 5.8

A quick look showing surprise after not noticing something at first

A friendly exchange of ideas and jokes

The money you keep after taxes and other payments are taken out

6 3.5

The most important idea you learn from a talk or meeting

take-up
  • UK
1 4.1

How many people and how quickly they start to use something

1 2.3

Food prepared to be eaten somewhere else, not in the shop

A funny way of looking at a situation

take-up
  • Specialized
1 7.2

A device or action that pulls in extra material, for example slack in a rope

1 4.4

Counting and checking the goods a shop or warehouse has

take-in
  • Informal
7.7

A trick that cheats someone out of money or goods

Surface Forms

take infinitive
taking present participle
takes third person singular
took past
taken past participle

Etymology

Take comes from an old Norse word taka meaning 'to seize' or 'catch'. So when someone is 'taken' sick, they are 'caught' by the illness, which fits the old idea of being seized by something.