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

to take down

46 3.0
To remove something that is fixed or standing, for example stage equipment
  • phrasal verb
  • /teɪk daʊn/
translation icon : retirar
  • We had endless videos taken down from YouTube and TikTok.

Facebook made him take it down because it's not true.

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Examples

  • After the holiday season, many people take down their decorations.

  • Toward the end of March, I went outside one Saturday to take down the storm windows.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I just need you to take it down so I can change the batteries.

    Camping Trip (2021)

  • I have not yet taken down my Christmas decorations.

  • I see you're taking down all the lights.

    Deck the Halls (2006)

  • On another floor, someone was taking down laundry and folding it into a plastic basket.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Chuck has taken down the sail and rigged it as a canopy.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I was helping Mrs. Morrow take down the Christmas cards from the cords strung along the walls.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Please take down the posters before the event starts.

  • The workers will take down the old fence next week to make way for a new one.

Synonyms

to remove
vsto take down
∞ 1.5

To move something or someone away from a place

focuses on removing from a fixed display or dismantling objects
to take off
vsto take down
∞ 1.5

To remove clothes or something from your body

refers to removing from a fixed display or dismantling, not clothing
to shut down
vsto take down
541 2.9

Stop a machine, business, or system from working

relates to physical removal or dismantling rather than stopping operation
to delete
vsto take down
287 2.0

To remove information like text or files so it cannot be seen

applies to physical removal or dismantling rather than erasing data
to tear down
vsto take down
123 3.7

To destroy a building or other structure completely

means removing displays or dismantling without necessarily destroying fully
to knock down
vsto take down
57 3.2

Make a building or wall fall down suddenly

involves removing or dismantling more deliberately, not sudden collapse
to demolish
vsto take down
54 3.7

Completely destroy a building or large structure

covers removal or dismantling without implying total destruction
to take apart
vsto take down
50 3.0

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

removes or dismantles items as whole units rather than partwise
to bring down
vsto take down
  • NSFW
7 5.3

Cause a computer system, website, or service to stop working

refers to removing or dismantling physical items rather than causing outages
to rase
vsto take down
  • Archaic
9.9

To completely tear down a building or town so nothing is left

applies to removing or dismantling objects rather than flattening sites

Antonyms

to install
480 3.2

To set up a machine or computer program so it works

How Completely

to decommission
  • Formal
22 6.5
to dismantle
64 4.2
to take down
46 3.0
to remove
∞ 1.5
to unhook
35 2.5

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 for removing things comes from the scene after a show when the crew takes the stage and equipment down so nothing is left standing. So it means 'to remove something from a place where it was fixed or displayed'.