take 
of voluntary nctioii i>r effort. Specifically (a) To 
make a prisoner or prize of ; capture. 
Than wentu Arthour in-Ui paryse | Paris), 
Anil take the castcllr ,v (h. i.iwn lit hys avyse. 
Arthur (i-t\. Kiirnivall), 1. 104. 
Of this Castle John Nevll was left Governor by King 
Kdwiiid, who, xi-iidtiig out certain Companies, luik the 
Karl Murray Prisoner. Baker, Chronicles, p. 119. 
Thr I'n-rirli King hath '"/.' // Nancy anil almost all 
Lorain lately. Uou'M, Letters, I. vi. 25. 
(d) To seize ; arrest; hold In custody : usually followed by 
np. Sec to take up (d). 
As soono as the luges knowe ther-of, they well make yow 
to he '"/,< for couetyse of youre londes and herytage, and 
do lustlce vpon yow. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. is. 
Home were taken & clapt up in prison, others had their 
houses besett ,V watch! night and day. 
llntd/ortt, Plymouth Plantation, p. 10. 
(r) To get possession of by means of a trap, snare, bait, or 
like device; catch : used also of the device Itself. 
In that Contree ther ben Bestes taughte of men to gon 
In to Watres, in to Ryveres, and in to dene Stankes, for to 
take Kysche. Mandenlte, Travels, p. 309. 
Takf us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines. 
Cant ii. 15. 
I will llrst begin with the flies of less esteem, though 
almost anything will take a Trout In May. 
Cotton, in Walton's Angler, IL 25ft. 
(ii) To obtain In marriage : as, to take a wife or a huslmnd. 
To God and his sayntes me swere now thys braid 
That in marlage me wil be taking. 
Ram. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4m. 
When she was fifteen, her father took a second wife. 
JHaoatUay, Mine. D'Arblay. 
Ye are forbidden to take to you two sisters as your 
wives. E. W. Lam, Modern Egyptians, 1. 117. 
(<) To secure by payment, subscription, lease, or contract : 
as, to take a box at the opera; to take a farm ; to take a 
daily paper. 
Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court. 
Macaulay, Goldsmith. 
We went on board the little iron Swedish propeller, 
Carl Johan, at Liibeck, on the morning of December 1, 
A. D. 185*1. having previously taken our passage for Stock- 
holm. B. Taylor, Northern Travel, p. 13. 
They were always looking at palatial residences in the 
best situations, and always very nearly takiny or buying 
one, but never quite concluding the bargain. 
Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, ii. 4. 
(/) To win by competition, as in a contest of ability ; gain ; 
bear off : as, to take a prize ; to take honors at college. 
They will be content to win a thank, or take a second 
reward. Bacon, Suitors (ed. 1887). 
(</) In many games, to win ; capture: as, to take the odd 
trick (at whist); rook takes knight (at chess). 
4. To please; attract; captivate; charm. 
There's something in thee takes my fancies so 
I would not have thee perish for a world. 
Beau, and Fl. (?X faithful Friends, 111. 3. 
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free ; 
Such sweet neglect more taketh me 
Than all the adulteries of art. 
Ii. Jonton, EpicuMie, i. 1. 
She herself, to confess a truth, was never greatly taken 
with cribhage. Lamb, Mrs. Battle on Whist. 
5. To attack; seize; smite; affect injuriously : 
said of disease, grief, or other malign influ- 
ence: as, plague take the fellow; specifically, 
to blight or blast by or as by witchcraft. 
The .xx. day of apryll, John popes wyfe of comtone 
Had a yong chylile, that was taken sodenly, 
And so contyuued and eoude not be holpen. 
Joseph of Arimathie (E. E. T. S.), p. 47. 
He [Herne the hunter] blasts the tree and takei the 
cattle 
And makes milch-kine yield blood. 
Shot., M. W. of W., iv. 4. 32. 
Two shallops, going, laden with goods, to Connecticut, 
were taken In the night with an easterly storm. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 201. 
A plague take their balderdash ! 
Goldsmith, Good-natured Man, i. 
6. To come upon suddenly; surprise; catch. 
Hee is a very run-full man in his Office, but if hee stay 
vp after Midnight you shall '"/.-- him napping. 
Bp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, A Constable. 
In their dealing with them, they took some of them in 
plain lies and other foul distempers. 
Winttarop, Hist. New England, I. 301. 
If he shou'd have taken them in the very fact possest of 
his goods, these Vermin would have had one hole or an- 
other to creep out at. Dampitr, Voyages, II. 1. 89. 
I won't know : I'll be surpris'd ; 111 be taken by Surprize. 
Congre ne, Way of the World, ill. 5. 
7. To appropriate ; get for one's possession or 
use; hence, to abstract; remove; carry off. 
It Is not injustice to take that which none complains to 
lose. Sir T. Bnnmc, Urn-burial, Hi. 
When I came to my place, I was informed that the sheik 
intended to take my pistols by force, if I would not agree to 
his proposal. Pococke, Description of the East, II. L 98. 
Those we love first are taken first. Tennyson, To J. S. 
Hence, specifically (a) To subtract; deduct. 
This her son 
'annot take two from twenty, for his heart, 
And leave eighteen. Shak., Oymbellne. II. 1. 60. 
0163 
(6) To extract; quote: as, a passage taken from KcaU; a 
descrlptinn tnkm from Id-foe, (e) To derive ; deduce. 
He from Italian songsters takes his cue. 
Couffer, Progress of Error, I. 112. 
As a rule, the older English shires bear names takrn 
from the circumstances of the conquest, and the later onci 
are called after towns, many of them of later foundation 
than the conquest. K. A. freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 113. 
cl > To withdraw ; recall. 
Perhaps I'll take my word again, 
And may repent the same. 
>/< Hugh fe Blond (Child's Ballads, III. 257). 
8. To choose; select: as, to take sides. 
Sister, I Joy to see you and your choice ; 
You look'd with my eyes when you took that man. 
Beau, and Fl, Maid's Tragedy, L 2. 
Good commanders in the wan must be taken, be they 
never so ambitious ; for the use of their service dlspensetn 
with the rest Bacon, Ambition (ed. 18b7). 
The nicest eye could no distinction make, 
Where lay the advantage, or what side to takr. 
Drydm, Pal. and Arc., III. f.71. 
9. To invest one's self with ; assume as an at- 
tribute, property, or characteristic. 
And some other men Say it ys the aepnlcre of Josophat, 
And that the Vale takei the name of the aeyd Josophat 
Torkington, Diarle of Eng. Travel!, p. 28. 
The growing wonder take* a thousand shape*. 
Couyer, Task, v. US). 
The distance taket a lovelier hue. 
Trnnuxm. In Memorlam, cxv. 
10. To receive ; become the recipient and pos- 
sessor of: noting ownership conferred from 
without, as by another person or by some cir- 
cumstance; especially, to receive willingly; 
accept, as something given or offered. 
He took hymself a greet profit therby. 
Chaucer, Friar's Tale, L 46. 
Proffers not took reap thanks for their reward. 
Slink., All's Well, II. 1. 150. 
I would have paid my two Turcomen ; but they would 
not t'ih- the money I agreed for, and went on further, so I 
gave them something more. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. i. 167. 
To take with gratitude what Heav'n bestows. 
Coirper, Hope, 1. 430. 
11. To be the subject of; experience, (a) To 
have recourse to ; submit to ; undergo, as any physical or 
material process or operation. 
If a man takith clrcumcisioun in the Saboth, that the 
lawe of Moyseg be not brokun, ban ye indlgnacioun to me 
for I made al the man hool in the Sabot? 
Wydif, John Til. 23. 
As jockeys take a sweat. 
Coirper, Progress of Error, 1. 221. 
Girls [in Sparta] had to take gymnastics as the boys did ; 
but they did not go on into the discipline of the men. 
ir. ir //,,, state, 1 107. 
(t>) To fee! ; hare a sense of: noting mental experience. 
Erthe, elementls, ener ilkane, 
For my synne has sorowe tone, 
This wele I see. 
York Plays, p. 83. 
Whan the kynge Brangore sangh the distruxion and the 
grete martire, he take ther-of grete pitee, and gan to wepe 
watlr with his iyen. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), II. 248. 
Is it not alike madness to take a pride in vain and un- 
profitable honours? 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 7. 
The saddest heart might pleasure take 
To see all nature gay. Scott, Marmion, Iv. 15. 
(ct) To arrive at ; attain. 
(This) tui'kf such good successe that the Harrison was 
cut off by the Ambuscado. 
Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 15. 
12. To submit to; endure; put up with; bear 
with resignation. 
Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather 
suffer yourselves to tie defrauded? 1 Cor. vi. 7. 
Wisdom has taught us to be calm and meek, 
To take one blow, and turn the other cheek. 
0. W. Holme*, Non-Resistance. 
She must think how she would take the blame 
That from her mother did her deed await. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 224. 
13. To accept and act upon; be guided by; 
comply with : as, to take a hint or a suggestion. 
My ever-houour'd friend, I'll take your counsel. 
Fletcher, Valeutlnlan, i. 3. 
If this advice appear the worst, 
E'en takf the counsel which I gave you first 
Pope, Imlt of Horace, I. Ti. 131. 
14. To be affected or infected with ; acquire in- 
voluntarily and especially by communication ; 
contract : as, to take a fancy ; to take a fever. 
His Moskito Strikers, taking a fancy to the Boy, begg'd 
him of Capt Wright, and took him with them at their 
return into their own Country. Dainpier, Voyages, 1. 181. 
In our anxiety that our morality should not take cold, 
we wrap it np in a great blanket-surtout of precaution 
against the breeze and sunshine. 
Lamb, Artificial Comedy of the Last Century. 
Fred (entitled to all things there) 
He took the fever from Mr. Vollaire. 
ir ,v. Hilbert, Baby's Vengeance. 
take 
The Prophet had certainly taken a love for mr. 
/;. W. l.nn.-, Mo,l.-rn Kgyptiam, II. IN',. 
15. To rci-civi- with the ili'~m-il rllVr-t in u-i- 
or application; IH-IM-C, to In- Misci-ptilile to. 
(i. W. H. asks . . . what to apply to type on whirh 
kerosene has been spilled to make it tnkr ink. 
M .1,,,.,., v s., I. XII. 204. 
16. To attack and surmount, as an obstacle or 
i Ii iVn-iil ty; IMMH-I-, toiln-Oi into, us an animal into 
water, or to clear or leap, as a horse or a rider 
clears a fence-. 
That hand which had the strength, even at your door, 
To cudgel you and make you take the hatch. 
Slink., K. John, v. _'. 138. 
The Exe . . . ran in a foaming torrent, imbrfdged, and 
too wide for leaping. But Jeremy's horse took the water 
welL B. D. Blackmare, Lorna Doone, xlvll. 
17. To receive, as into a specified relation or 
position; admit: as, to take a person into fel- 
lowship; to I"!,'' a clerk into the firm. 
When St. Paul was taken Into the apostolate, nil com 
missions were signed In these words. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1836), I. 808. 
He has taken me Into his confidence. 
George Kliot, MIddlemarch, xl. 
18. To receive into the body or system, as by 
swallowing, inhaling, or absorbing. 
This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and 
continued fasting, having takrn nothing. Wherefore, I 
pray you to take some meat. Acts xxvll. 38, 34. 
Here we see how customary it was for ladies to take 
snuff In 1711, although Steelc seems to be shocked at It 
as quite a new fashion in 1712. 
./. Ashlun, Social Life In Reign of Queen Anne, L 210. 
19. To receive into the mind ; catch the sense 
of; understand: as, to hike one's meaning. 
Was this taken 
By any understanding pate but thine? 
Shak., W. T., I. 2. 222. 
Madam, take It from me, no Man with Papers In 's Hand 
is more dreadful than a Poet ; no, not a Lawyer with his 
Declarations. Wycherley, Love In a Wood, Ded. 
20. Hence, to grasp the meaning of (a person) ; 
perceive the purpose of; understand the acts 
or words of. 
You take me right, Eupolis ; for there Is no possibility 
of an holy war. Bacon, Iloly War. 
My dear friend, you don't take me Your friendship 
out-runs my explanation. Steele, Lying Lover, ii. 1. 
21. To hold as one's opinion; deem; judge; 
suppose: often with for. 
Of verry righte he may be called trewe, and BOO mnste 
he be tnki' in euery place that can deserue and lete as he 
ne knewe, and keep the good if he it may purchace. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 73. 
Of all people Ladies have no reason to cry down Cere- 
monies, for they take themselves slighted without it 
SeUen, Table-Talk, p. 31. 
I saw also what I took to be the bed of a canal cut In 
between the hills, which possibly might be to convey 
water to the east. Pococke, Description of the East, I. 73. 
I take this defect among them to have risen from their 
Ignorance. SiHi't, Gulliver's Travels, il. 7. 
The great point, as I lake it, is to be exorbitant enough 
in your demands. Sheridan, School for Scandal, Ml. 1. 
22. To consider ; regard ; view and examine. 
He was a man, takt him for all in all, 
I shall not look upon his like again. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 2. 187. 
It is generally observed that modern Rome stand* higher 
than the ancient : some have computed it about fourteen 
or fifteen feet, taking one place with another. 
Ail'li--ijn, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bonn, I. 458). 
Taki'n by themselves and considered as characteristics 
of the Institute sculptors, the obvious traits of this work 
might, that is to say, be adjudged eccentric and empty. 
The Century, XLL ID. 
23. To regard or look upon, with reference to 
the emotion excited ; be affected by, in a speci- 
fied way. 
Hence, Mardian, 
And bring me how he takes my death. 
Shak., A. and C., iv. 13. 10. 
I am sure many would take it ill to be abridged of the 
titles and honours of their predecessors. 
Capt. John Smith, Works, II. 204. 
I an't a man of many words, but I take It very kind of 
you to be so friendly, and above-board. 
Dickens, Dornbey and Son, xvii. 
24. To accept the statements, promises, or 
terms of; close with. 
Old as I am, I take thee at thy word. 
And will to-morrow thank thee with my sword. 
Dryden, Conquest of Granada, I., ii. 1. 
25. To assume as a duty or responsibility; 
undertake. 
This feende that take this enterprise ne taried not, but 
in al the haste that he myght he come ther. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), L S. 
Our takrn task afresh we will assay. 
J. Denny* (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 163). 
There was no man that would take charge of a galley ; 
the weather was so rough, and there was such an amazed- 
ness amongst them. Munday (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 209). 
