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🏠 To give shelter ✂️ To make smaller 🧠 To understand 🌱 To absorb 🏙️ To visit 💵 To earn 🕵️ To deceive 🍽️ To eat or drink
to take in

to take in

35 3.0
Pull in and hold a liquid or gas
  • phrasal verb
  • /teɪk ɪn/
translation icon : absorber
  • As the sponge takes in water, it swells and becomes soft.
  • plants take in water

Tapping as we inhale allows us to take in just a little bit more air.

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Examples

  • The boat tipped to its side, taking in a lot of water.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Your eyes only take in color, your ears only take in sound.

  • Relax, take in the sun, breathe deeply.

  • For a minute, she stood there, taking in the sight of his back as he worked.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The task of brains is to take information in and yield control.

  • A dog's nose is unbelievably sensitive, capable of taking in a wide variety of smells.

    Academic text (2017)

  • "Perennials also continue to take in water and nitrates later in the fall."

    Academic text (2002)

  • How do we intelligently go about taking in our daily microbial intake?

  • The plant needs sunlight to take in energy for photosynthesis.

  • To thrive, the trees must take in carbon dioxide from the air.

Synonyms

to absorb
vsto take in
217 3.0

To take in things such as liquid, light, or information

moves liquids or gases physically into a material
to ingest
vsto take in
68 3.6

To eat or drink something so it goes into your body

is about absorbing substances into materials rather than internal swallowing
to take up
vsto take in
7 3.2

To soak up liquid or learn and keep new information

is limited to physical movement of liquids or gases into something, not learning
to suck in
vsto take in
7 3.6

To take in and hold something, like a sponge taking water

is similar but describes general physical uptake without suction force
to sop up
vsto take in
1 3.3

To absorb liquid using a sponge, cloth, or piece of bread

is about moving liquids into a material generally, not about using a tool
to imbibe
vsto take in
  • Specialized
1 7.5

Absorb energy or gases into a liquid

is broader for liquids and gases in general rather than only gases or energy

Antonyms

release
149 3.6

The act of letting a liquid, gas, or energy flow out

to exhale
62 2.6

To breathe out air or smoke from your lungs

How Absorbent

to saturate
55 5.2
to soak up
13 2.6
to take in
35 3.0
to draw in
6 4.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

take + in

The phrasal verb 'take in' here uses take (to receive/bring) + in (into/within) to mean 'absorb or experience' — as in 'take in the sights' = 'see/absorb the attractions'. The connection is metaphorical and relies on particle-verb usage that is not fully compositional or universally predictable for B1 learners, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Take in (absorb) is like a sponge that pulls liquid in — the object draws things inside itself. That literal image explains why it means 'to absorb or draw in' a substance.