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Glite Dictionary
to take the point

to take the point

3 4.9
To understand and accept that someone's remark makes sense even if you do not agree
  • idiom
  • Texting
translation icon : entender el punto
  • I take the point about disrespecting the artist's original vision, but I think it is one thing to colorize the original photographs rather than do it in Photoshop.

And I, I take the point that they, we hope they won't be permanent.

Examples

  • All right, I'll take the point.

    Camel Spiders (2011)

  • Okay, I take the point about the film not clearly qualifying as hate speech.

    Blog text (12)

  • But at this point, maybe you can take the point and regroup from there.

    Blog text (12)

  • I take the point about the eighty-seven branch libraries, but for comparison, the British Library has an operating budget of 138 million and no endowment to speak of; most of its money comes from government grant-in-aid.

    Blog text (20)

  • I take the point, Mr. Rosenkranz; it's possible that you have a warrant in your pocket and you don't say anything about it, although that would seem like very silly—stupid police work.

    Academic text (2018)

  • I understand your concerns, and I definitely take the point that we need more evidence.

  • After listening to her argument, I finally took the point she was trying to make.

  • He didn't agree at first, but eventually he took the point about the project's limitations.

Synonyms

to get the point
vsto take the point
  • Informal
51 2.7

To understand the main idea of what someone says or does

also accepts the remark's importance even without agreement
to get the picture
vsto take the point
  • Informal
37 3.2

To understand what someone is saying or what is happening

focuses on understanding and accepting the remark's significance
to get the drift
vsto take the point
  • Informal
4 4.5

To understand the main idea without knowing every detail

emphasizes seeing and accepting the remark's importance despite doubts

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to disregard
119 3.9

Ignore something or someone on purpose

How Convinced

to take the point
  • Texting
3 4.9
to get the point
  • Informal
51 2.7

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

take + the + point

The meaning is directly derived from combining 'take' in the sense 'understand/accept' with 'point' meaning 'meaning/argument', so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer this usage. This is a common compositional pattern (take + NP meaning grasp/accept an argument) and is therefore transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Take the point may come from the image of grabbing a clear, sharp point or idea; to take it is to hold it and admit it matters, so the phrase means 'to understand and accept' someone's argument.