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😒 To humiliate 🎈 To remove 🏚️ To demolish 📦 To lower 📝 To write
to take down

to take down

39 1.8
To move something from a high place to a lower place
  • phrasal verb
  • /teɪk daʊn/
translation icon : bajar
  • Well, I expected the security men to take down my license number and haul me in for questioning.
  • take the elevator down
  • take the flag down
  • take the sign down

And it was and it and it points, it nearly took the whole thing down.

Examples

  • When he rang the buzzer, right on time, I took Peppy back down to Mr. Contreras.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • After the event, we took down all the decorations from the ceiling.

  • Mr. Hall, you took down all your lights.

    Deck the Halls (2006)

  • - OK, take me down nice and slow.

    Timeline (2003)

  • Nothing else is really powerful enough to take down a grown horse so fast.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Two days before, the woman had taken down the mirror from the wall to fix its hook.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • "Your Aunt Grace had me take down her storm windows," I said.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • I'm scouting for General Miles, and can take you down to Camp Supply.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Alice took the scarf down from the shelf.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I carefully took down the picture frame from the wall to clean it.

Synonyms

to put down
vsto take down
812 1.0

To lower something from your hands onto a surface

is the general act of moving down without implying hand placement
to lower
vsto take down
802 1.0

Make something go down in position, amount, or strength

refers specifically to physical moving down, not reducing levels
to let down
vsto take down
180 2.0

Move something slowly from a higher to a lower position

is the simple act of moving down without extra care
to get down
vsto take down
44 1.6

To move something from a high place to a lower place

is identical in sense but uses different wording
to drag down
vsto take down
29 4.0

To pull something down by weight or force

is the act of moving down not necessarily by pulling
to push down
vsto take down
16 2.0

Make something move down by using force

is any move downward regardless of force or method
to bring down
vsto take down
15 3.3

Move something or someone from a higher to a lower place, for example land an aircraft

is only about moving down, not about landing planes

Antonyms

to elevate
128 3.9

To move something to a higher place or level

raise
4 2.9

An act of lifting something to a higher position

How Forceful

to tear down
123 3.7
to knock down
93 3.0
to take down
39 1.8
to lower
802 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

take + down

The meaning 'to remove or dismantle' is directly derivable from combining 'take' (to grasp/remove) with the directional particle 'down' (indicating lowering or removal); this fits the common verb+particle compositional pattern in English. Because the sense is literal and follows a cross-linguistically common motion/placement logic, an average B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Take down comes from the simple image of take and down: picking something from a high place and putting it lower, like removing a box from the top shelf. So it means 'to move something or someone from a higher to a lower position'.