take hold

idiomatic phrase

1

: to grasp, grip, or seize something

took hold and hung on tight

—often used with of

take hold of the railing

… she took hold of his arm with both her hands, and looked up eagerly—oh, with such terrible eagerness!—into his face.

—Anthony Trollope

—often used figuratively

As word of the subpoenas spread … confusion and hysteria took hold of the social set …

—Bob Colacello

I did not want Merlin to retire from the job until I was ready to take hold of it effectively myself …

—Mark Twain

2

: to become effective, established, or popular

The change in the law has not yet taken hold.

… a swath of land that has been spared from lava flows long enough that rich vegetation has had a chance to take hold.

—G. Brad Lewis

… here in central California the French aesthetic has recently taken hold.

—Rebecca Coffey

Examples of take hold in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So, what does the future hold for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency – once seemingly close to forgotten as the AI craze took hold, but now firmly back on the agenda? —Bernard Marr, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024

This year, on November 27th, the same day that a ceasefire took hold between Israel and Hezbollah, in neighboring Lebanon, H.T.S. and its allies abruptly pushed south from their stronghold in Idlib. —Rania Abouzeid, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2024

Worshippers fled from the Adass Israel Synagogue in the city’s south when the blaze took hold around 4 a.m. Friday morning. —Angus Watson, CNN, 5 Dec. 2024

Celebrations erupted in Lebanon as the 60-day truce took hold. —Dina Kraft, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1