take up
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
take up
noun take ups · take one up
- Alternative form of take-up In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And
verb takes up · taking up · took up · taken up · take one up
- To pick up. I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
- To remove (a ground or floor surface, including the bed of a road or the track of a railway). We're going to have to take up the floorboards.
- To absorb (a liquid), to soak up.
-
To shorten (a garment), especially by hemming.
If we take up the sleeves a bit, that shirt will look much better on you.
Similar: take in
-
To tighten or wind in (a rope, slack, etc.)
The reel automatically took up the slack.
Similar: take in
- To occupy; to consume (space or time). The books on finance take up three shelves.
- To take, to assume (one’s appointed or intended place). She took up her post at the foot of the stairs.
- To begin doing (an activity) on a regular basis. I’ve taken up knitting.
- To begin functioning in (a role or position), to assume (an office). He took up his post as assistant director last Friday.
- To address or discuss (an issue). Let’s take this up with the manager.
-
To accept, to adopt (a proposal, offer, request, cause, challenge, etc.).
I never said thank you for taking up our case.
Opposite: turn down
- To accept (a proposal, offer, request, cause, challenge, etc.) from. Shall we take them up on their offer to help us move?
- To join in (saying something). They took up the cry of their oppressed compatriots.
- To resume, to return to something that was interrupted. Let’s take up where we left off.
- To implement, to employ, to put into use. So I’d imagine if they were to take up this system, or a similar system, we should be able to build quicker.
- To review the solutions to a test or other assessment with a class. You have 30 minutes for the quiz. We’ll take up the answers at 1 o'clock.
- To begin occupying and working (a plot of uncultivated land), to break in.
- To pay off, to clear (a debt, loan, mortgage, etc.).
-
To arrest (a person).
The police took up the suspect.
Similar: take in
- To reprove or reproach (a person). […] he talked strangely of Mr. Law […] wearing a pair of stockings that a ploughman would not have picked off a dunghill; upon which last expression I took him up for saying that Mr. Law carried his expression beyond truth, when he himself exposed what he thought wrong with so much vivacity, and Dr.
- To begin to support or patronize, to sponsor (a person), to adopt as protégé.
Translations
Every language
verb to accept (a proposal, offer, request, etc.) from
| Español | aceptar |
|---|---|
| Italiano | accettare |
| Русский | приня́ть prinjátʹ |
verb to shorten by hemming
| Español | coger a, agarrar a |
|---|---|
| Italiano | accorciare |
verb to begin doing (an activity) on a regular basis
| Español | iniciarse en, dedicarse a |
|---|---|
| Italiano | dedicarsi |
verb to address (an issue)
| Español | aceptar, participar |
|---|---|
| Italiano | rivolgersi |
verb to resume
| Español | comenzar, empezar |
|---|---|
| Italiano | riprendere |
Talk about this word "take up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/take%20up. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. take up. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/take%20up "take up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/take%20up.Cite this
@misc{take_up_2026,
title = {take up},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/take%20up},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
