take

Used primarily in arithmetic contexts. More common in everyday British English than American English, where 'subtract' is the preferred formal term.

Can take two objects ('Take your sister a glass of water') or be used with 'to' ('take the book to her'). The direction is away from the speaker — to express movement towards the speaker, use 'bring' instead.

The subject can be a person ('take a gift') or an inanimate thing ('the stadium takes 60,000'). For the capacity meaning (how many or how much something can hold), no active choice is implied.

Always used to introduce an example of a broader point. The structure is 'take [someone/something]' followed by an explanatory clause. Common in both speech and writing as a discourse marker.

Frequently appears in fixed expressions: 'take it for granted,' 'take someone/something to be someone/something,' and 'take it that...' The assumption may be mistaken — this sense often implies a guess or belief without full confirmation.

Most common in negative statements or questions ('I can't take it any more', 'How much more can you take?') and with 'more than [someone] can take'. The object is always an unpleasant situation, never a person.

Used almost exclusively in the fixed phrase 'take it or leave it', which forms a complete statement. The hyphenated adjective form 'take-it-or-leave-it' can appear before a noun ('a take-it-or-leave-it offer').

Often followed by a phrase showing where the thing was taken from ('take something from the table', 'take something out of the box'). Can be used with parts of the body ('take someone's hand', 'take someone's arm').

The destination or purpose is almost always stated ('take someone to school', 'take someone for a walk'). When the purpose is paying, it is often implied by the context ('take someone out for dinner'). Distinct from sense 11 (GUIDE) — this sense does not involve showing the way.

Distinct from sense 10 (ACCOMPANY) — this sense focuses on showing the route to someone who does not know it. The subject must know the way. The destination is typically a specific room, building, or area within a larger complex.

Distinct from sense 10 (ACCOMPANY) — this sense is specifically about social events where the person you take is your guest, date, or partner. The event is a party, dinner, dance, concert, wedding, or similar gathering.

The object is always a type of transport (bus, train, plane, taxi) or a route (shortcut, highway, path).

Often followed by an abstract noun (courage, patience, skill) or an -ing form. Frequently used with 'it' as an empty subject: 'It takes X to Y.'

Only used for sizes of clothes and shoes. The object is always a size label (small, medium, large) or a number.

The subject is usually an activity or a task, not a person. 'It takes + [time] + to + verb' is the most common pattern, though a person can appear as an indirect object: 'It took me three hours.'

Always paired with a short-period expression such as 'a moment', 'a few seconds', 'no time at all', or a small number of minutes. The focus is on speed.

Often paired with expressions that emphasise length or difficulty: 'years of', 'generations of', 'great pains', 'a lot of time and effort'. Unlike sense 16 (DURATION), this sense emphasises the difficulty involved, not just the clock time.

Common subjects are medical professionals, technicians, and scientists. Typical objects include temperature, pulse, blood pressure, reading, and measurement.

This is the only sense of 'take' where the object is a drug, medicine, pill, or vitamin. 'Eat' and 'drink' are not used for medication in natural English.

Almost always appears in questions about preference or in statements describing a personal habit. The drink is named first, followed by the additions or preparation style. Distinguish from sense 20 (DRUG/MEDICINE), where the focus is on health treatment.

Frequently combines with nouns that describe formal or structured actions: action, steps, measures, vote, test, notes. Compare with sense 23 (DAILY TASK), where the noun represents a simple everyday action that could be replaced by a verb (take a walk = walk).

The noun in this pattern always refers to a simple action that could be expressed as a verb (walk, look, shower, breath, break, rest). This is a productive pattern — native speakers create new combinations naturally. Compare with sense 22 (ACT), where the nouns describe more formal or structured actions (take action, take steps).

Common patterns: take + noun + as (interpretation), take a dim view of (opinion-forming), take + for granted (not appreciating). The object is typically a comment, event, behaviour, or piece of news. Distinguish from sense 25 (UNDERSTAND), where the focus is on grasping meaning rather than forming an opinion.

Often followed by an object plus an as/for/to-be phrase that names the interpretation. The adverb of manner (seriously, personally, badly) goes after the object, not before the verb. Common in passive constructions.

The object is typically news, a situation, a performance, or someone's behavior. Almost always used with an adverb or prepositional phrase that describes the manner of reaction — e.g. well, badly, hard, seriously, personally, calmly, in stride. Not used without a description of the reaction.

Most common in three fixed expressions: take someone by surprise, take someone aback, and take one's breath away. Not used in progressive tenses (*is taking me by surprise). The subject is usually an event, experience, or piece of news — not a person acting intentionally.

The subject is usually a business, venue, event, or market stall. Commonly used when talking about how much money a film, concert, or fundraiser has earned. Often followed by a specific dollar amount or a time period like 'a day' or 'in its opening weekend.'

Implies deliberate, often forceful acquisition — stronger than 'get' or 'receive.' Frequently used in military, police, game, and sports contexts. Often followed by a complement that specifies the result: into custody, prisoner, control of, possession of.

Almost always used with a written-record noun as the object: notes, a message, details, information, a statement. The phrasal verb 'take down' is common and interchangeable. Unlike 'write,' 'take' in this sense always implies recording existing information rather than creating original text.

This meaning is limited to baseball contexts and is most common in North American English. The batter is the subject, and the pitch is the object.

The subject is typically a medical treatment, a chemical substance, a dye, a plant, or a graft that needs time to produce an effect. Often used with the adverb 'well' to indicate success or 'not at all' for failure.

The subject is the person using the camera, not the camera itself. Common objects include 'a photo / a picture / a video / a selfie / a shot'. This sense is neutral in register and used in both casual and formal contexts.

Commonly used with ordinal numbers (first take, second take) or the word another. Often appears in filmmaking and television contexts.

Almost always followed by on + topic. Frequently used in informal conversation and journalism.

Distinguish from sense 3 (OPINION): sense 3 focuses on what someone thinks about something, while sense 4 focuses on how someone presents or retells something, often an event, story, or creative work.