Lexic.us

Definition of Take up

1. Verb. Pursue or resume. "Take up a matter for consideration"

2. Verb. Adopt. "Take up new ideas"

3. Verb. Turn one's interest to. "He took up herpetology at the age of fifty"

4. Verb. Take up time or space. "Take up the slack"

5. Verb. Begin work or acting in a certain capacity, office or job. "Start a new job"

6. Verb. Take up and practice as one's own.

7. Verb. Occupy or take on. "The men take up the horses across the field"; "Strike a pose"

8. Verb. Take up a liquid or a gas either by adsorption or by absorption.

9. Verb. Take out or up with or as if with a scoop. "Scoop the sugar out of the container"

10. Verb. Accept. "The cloth takes up the liquid"

11. Verb. Take in, also metaphorically. "She drew strength from the minister's words"

12. Verb. Take up as if with a sponge.

13. Verb. Return to a previous location or condition. "The painting resumed its old condition when we restored it"

Definition of Take up

1. Noun. (context: machinery) That which takes up or tightens; specifically, a device in a sewing machine for drawing up the slack thread as the needle rises, in completing a stitch. ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) To pick up. ¹

3. Verb. (transitive) To begin doing (an activity) on a regular basis. ¹

4. Verb. (transitive) To address (an issue). ¹

5. Verb. (transitive) To occupy; to consume (space or time). ¹

6. Verb. (transitive sewing) To shorten by hemming. ¹

7. Verb. (transitive with on) To accept (a proposal, offer, request, etc.) from. ¹

8. Verb. (intransitive) to resume ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Take Up

take time by the forelock take time off take to take to be take to heart take to one's bed take to one's heels take to pieces take to task take to the cleaners

take to the hills take to the streets take to the woods take turns take umbrage take up (current term) take up a collection take up arms take up the cudgel for take up the gauntlet

take up with take upon take water take wing takeable takeaway takeaways taked takedaite takedown

Literary usage of Take up

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana (1897)
"I stood on the beach while the brig got under way, and watched her until she rounded the point, and then went to the hide-house to take up my quarters for a ..."

2. A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words are Deduced from ...by Samuel Johnson by Samuel Johnson (1805)
"Sinners at last take up, and settle in a contempt of all religion, ... To TAKE up with. To be contented with. This rational thought wrought so effectually, ..."

3. Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana (1897)
"I stood on the beach while the brig got under way, and watched her until she rounded the point, and then went to the hide-house to take up my quarters for a ..."

4. A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words are Deduced from ...by Samuel Johnson by Samuel Johnson (1805)
"Sinners at last take up, and settle in a contempt of all religion, ... To TAKE up with. To be contented with. This rational thought wrought so effectually, ..."

Other Resources: