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🎸 To start an activity ⏳ To use space or time 🥄 To lift or pick up 📍 To occupy a place 💧 To absorb
to take up

to take up

7 3.2
To soak up liquid or learn and keep new information
  • phrasal verb
  • /teɪk ʌp/
translation icon : absorber
  • Because trees take up carbon dioxide as they grow, they are what's called a natural carbon sink.
  • take up water
  • take up nutrients
  • plants take up nutrients

So a sponge takes up all of the water.

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Examples

  • Either way, a plant will only take up what it needs.

  • As you cool water, it takes up slightly less and less volume.

  • In hot years, they take up less carbon dioxide and breathe out more.

    Academic text (2007)

  • It's a large volume that's taken up by this water.

  • So a sponge takes up all of the water.

    André Duqum

  • Other scientists have shown that plant-fungal relationships help plants take up essential nutrients.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The grasses there are highly nutritious because they take up calcium and phosphorus trapped by the hardpan.

    Academic text (2006)

  • A sponge can take up a significant amount of water when submerged.

  • Through diligent study, she managed to take up new concepts quickly and efficiently.

  • The soil in the garden tends to take up excess moisture after heavy rainfall.

Synonyms

to suck
vsto take up
337 1.0

To pull liquid into the mouth, for example with a straw

is the phrasal expression used generally for absorbing, not only vacuum action
to draw
vsto take up
256 3.0

Get information or lessons from a source

is more about physical or figurative soaking rather than deriving benefit
to absorb
vsto take up
217 3.0

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

is the common phrasal form used broadly for physical or mental intake
to swallow
vsto take up
143 4.8

To completely cover or hide something so it disappears

is less about disappearance and more about soaking or absorbing
to take in
vsto take up
35 3.0

Pull in and hold a liquid or gas

is the common phrasal expression used for both physical and metaphorical intake
to suck up
vsto take up
22 4.3

To take in liquid or information

is a neutral phrasal form without implied force or eagerness
to soak up
vsto take up
  • Informal
16 3.9

To take in and enjoy the atmosphere or information

is used more generally for both physical and mental taking in
to imbibe
vsto take up
9 7.4

Drink alcohol or absorb ideas and knowledge

is a more neutral, everyday phrase without the drinking sense
to suck in
vsto take up
7 3.6

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

is a broader phrase not tied to a suction mechanism
to sponge up
vsto take up
1 3.7

To take liquid from a surface using something like a cloth

is a broader phrase for absorbing liquids or ideas
to sorb
vsto take up
  • Specialized
9.5

To take in and hold a liquid or gas

is the everyday phrasal form rather than a technical term
to sop up
vsto take up
3.7

To take in liquid or things like information and feelings

is a general phrase for taking up liquids or information

Antonyms

to release
∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

to disperse
104 4.4

To cause people and things, like a crowd or fog, to spread over a wide area

How Absorbent

to soak up
  • Informal
16 3.9
to take up
7 3.2
to absorb
217 3.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

take + up

The meaning 'to begin or start an activity' is only partly derivable from combining 'take' (to grasp/assume) with 'up' (a directional/particle), because the sense is a metaphorical extension of 'lifting into action' rather than a literal composition. As a common phrasal-verb pattern in English, it is somewhat guessable but not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure, and cross-linguistic equivalents vary.

Etymology

Take up paints the picture of something absorbing liquid, like a sponge that takes up water or roots that take up water from the soil. Because of this, it now means 'to absorb or soak up' something, either physically or mentally.