to take five
28
4.2
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
hacer una pausa
- Hey, Gisselle, why don't you take five?
- take five minutes
Examples
-
Before going to bed, take five minutes to figure out what you're wearing the next day.
Blog text (26) -
All right, let's take five.
-
Alright, ladies, - we're gonna take five minutes earlier.
-
Hurry up, take five minutes.
-
Guys, you can take five.
-
Can we just take five minutes?
-
I guess I could take five minutes.
Fiction book (1992) -
Let's all maybe take five, huh?
-
Okay, let's take five, everyone.
-
After working hard for hours, the team decided to take five to refresh their minds.
Synonyms
496
1.4
To stop doing something for a short time to rest or relax before continuing
98
3.4
Stop for a short time to think, rest or remember something
24
3.2
Stop what you are doing to rest or do something different for a short time
14
3.5
To stop and rest for a short time
1
5.1
A short ten-minute break during work or rehearsal
To sit and rest for a short time and talk
Antonyms
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'take' + 'five' as an ellipsis for 'take five minutes', so a learner can often infer the idea of taking a short (about five-minute) break from the constituents and context. However, the abbreviated, conversational use as a conventional signal to pause is somewhat idiomatic and relies on pragmatic knowledge (and ellipsis), so it is not fully predictable for all B1 learners without exposure.
Etymology
The phrase take five may come from old jazz bands. Musicians would take a short five-minute break between songs, so take five came to mean 'to take a short break'.