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Glite Dictionary
📝 To accept work 🔄 To gain a quality ⚔️ To face an opponent 👥 To add people
to take on

to take on

133 2.8
Compete against someone, for example in a sport or game
  • phrasal verb
  • /teɪk ɑn/
translation icon : enfrentarse a
  • Tennessee travels to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt in the in-state annual battle.
  • take on bigger opponents

Who could be opposed to them to take on child sex trafficking?

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Examples

  • New York ready to take on the winner of our next game, KC against Tennessee.

    Two for the Money (2005)

  • The moment where the good guys take on the bad guys.

    Beerfest (2006)

  • Today The try guys are taking on a chess master.

  • Satisfied, he gets ready to take on the entire base if necessary.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • UW heads home from Vegas to take on Virginia at the Kohl Center on Wednesday.

    Blog text (5)

  • You're going to be watching women's surfing history today... as these girls take on the deadliest waves in the world.

    Blue Crush (2002)

  • In 1944, the Bulldogs were sporting a 7-2 record and were excited about taking on the service-talented Yellow Jackets.

    Academic text (2014)

  • The Cincinnati Bengals will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the upcoming game.

  • Tomorrow, our team will take on their biggest rival in the championship match.

  • In the final round, she will take on the reigning champion for a chance to win the title.

Synonyms

to fight
vsto take on
∞ 1.0

To take part in a physical or verbal struggle against someone

involves competing as an opponent in sport rather than general conflict
to play
vsto take on
∞ 1.0

Compete against another team or player in a sport

focuses on directly facing someone as the opponent
to meet
vsto take on
527 2.2

To play against an opponent in a game or contest

refers to directly facing someone as an opponent rather than gathering
to encounter
vsto take on
8 3.6

To meet an opponent in a game or match

describes facing someone as an opponent rather than merely seeing them

Antonyms

to avoid
∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

to back down
107 3.7

To stop insisting because others oppose you

How Competitive

to battle
372 2.7
to confront
310 4.1
to take on
133 2.8
to face
∞ 2.2
up against
235 5.1

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

take + on

The sense 'to compete against' is a metaphorical extension of 'take' combined with the particle 'on' and is not a simple literal composition of the two words. While a learner who knows phrasal-verb patterns might infer a confrontational or assume-responsibility sense, the specific meaning 'face/compete against' is not fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Take on comes from the idea of stepping forward to face someone in a fight or game. To take someone on is to accept the challenge of facing them, so it means 'to compete against' or 'to challenge'.