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Glite Dictionary
🧮 To tally 🥊 To lose by knockout
to take the count

to take the count

8.8
To stay on the floor while the referee counts to ten and lose the fight
  • phrasal verb
  • Specialized
translation icon : quedarse en el suelo
  • The champion was knocked to the mat and had to take the count in the final round.

Examples

  • He fought bravely, but in the end he took the count and lost the match.

  • After a powerful uppercut, the boxer decided to take the count rather than get up.

  • Don't take the count this time!

  • Can he take the count and get back up?

  • After a powerful uppercut, the boxer decided to take the count rather than get up.

  • The champion was knocked to the mat and had to take the count in the final round.

  • He fought bravely, but ultimately chose to take the count and accept his defeat.

Synonyms

to count out
vsto take the count
  • Specialized
1 6.6

To count to ten to say a boxer has lost when they cannot get up

focuses on the boxer staying down rather than the referee's action
to remain down
vsto take the count
8.1

To stay on the ground while the referee counts to ten and lose the match

is the idiomatic phrase used for that exact situation
to knock down for the count
vsto take the count
  • Informal
8.2

To be hit so hard that you fall and cannot get up

emphasizes staying down during the ten count as the specific loss
KO'd
vsto take the count
  • Informal
9.6

Unconscious after a strong hit in a fight or boxing match

requires remaining down through the ten count rather than mere unconsciousness

Antonyms

to get up
695 1.0

To stand up from sitting or lying down

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

take + the + count

The meaning 'to count or tally' is directly and compositionally derived from 'take' (to perform or carry out) plus 'count' (a tally/total), with 'the' as a simple determiner. This follows a common English pattern (e.g. 'take the temperature', 'take the measurements') that B1 learners who know the constituent words will readily infer.

Etymology

The phrase take the count comes from boxing: when a fighter is knocked down the referee gives a ten-second count, and the fighter may choose to take that count by staying on the floor. So, take the count means 'to remain down and lose'.