| Library / English Dictionary |
TAKE ON
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect
Example:
The gods assume human or animal form in these fables
Synonyms:
acquire; adopt; assume; take; take on
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "take on" is one way to...):
change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "take on"):
re-assume (take on again, as after a time lapse)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Sense 2
Meaning:
Contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle
Example:
Charlie likes to play Mary
Synonyms:
encounter; meet; play; take on
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
"Take on" entails doing...:
compete; contend; vie (compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others)
Verb group:
play (participate in games or sport)
play (employ in a game or in a specific position)
play (use or move)
play (shoot or hit in a particular manner)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "take on"):
confront; face (oppose, as in hostility or a competition)
replay (repeat a game against the same opponent)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sense 3
Meaning:
Admit into a group or community
Example:
We'll have to vote on whether or not to admit a new member
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "take on" is one way to...):
accept; have; take (receive willingly something given or offered)
Verb group:
admit; include; let in (allow participation in or the right to be part of; permit to exercise the rights, functions, and responsibilities of)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "take on"):
profess (receive into a religious order or congregation)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence example:
Sam cannot take on Sue
Sense 4
Meaning:
Take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities
Example:
When will the new President assume office?
Synonyms:
adopt; assume; take on; take over
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "take on" is one way to...):
take office (assume an office, duty, or title)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "take on"):
resume (assume anew)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Accept as a challenge
Example:
I'll tackle this difficult task
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "take on" is one way to...):
confront; face; face up (deal with (something unpleasant) head on)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "take on"):
rise (exert oneself to meet a challenge)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Context examples:
Researchers have previously shown that, in response to cold, white fat cells in both animals and humans take on characteristics of brown fat cells.
(Cool temperature alters human fat and metabolism, NIH)
“It’s Jack Harrison the bruiser! Lord Frederick was going to take on the ex-champion. Give him one on the apron, Fred, and see what happens.”
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The size range roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where many of the fundamental structures of biology are formed, composite materials may take on their distinctive characteristics, and many important physical phenomena are found.
(Nanoscale, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The process during which young, immature (unspecialized) cells take on individual characteristics and reach their mature (specialized) form and function.
(Cell differentiation, NCI Dictionary)
You doen't need to be so fearsome, and take on so much.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Scarcely had they met when the Telegraph Avenue car came along and stopped to take on a crowd of afternoon shoppers.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Organisms evolve and "radiate" from an ancestral group, they take on a variety of specialized forms that enable them to live a certain lifestyle or occupy a particular niche.
(Putting the sloth in sloths: Arboreal lifestyle drives slow pace, NSF)
For reasons scientists don't yet understand, about half of those planets take on a small amount of hydrogen and helium that dramatically swells their size, allowing them to jump the gap and join the population closer to Neptune’s size.
(NASA Releases Kepler Survey Catalog with Hundreds of New Planet Candidates, NASA)
One claimed to be ten-stone champion, another was ready to take on anything at eleven, but would not run to twelve, which would have brought the invincible Jem Belcher down upon him.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
According to theory, since the doughnut structures would take on random orientations, the black holes should also be distributed randomly.
(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)
