take five

idiomatic phrase

variants or take ten

US, informal

: to take a brief break (as from work)

They're locked in a fierce debate over the last scene of their film … when camp director and Hollywood veteran Sam Dalton finally orders them to take five.—

Megan Myers

Parry Aftab, the executive director of WiredSafety.org, offers these tips for dealing with troubling messages. … Take five. Instead of replying to a message that upsets you, step away and do something you enjoy for five minutes.—

Nicole Iorio

I could see his anger had nearly boiled over. … Coach Colby, who ran the defense, was the brave soul who stepped in. "Take ten," he said, placing a hand on Orlando's chest. "Cool off. Then suit up and meet at the fifty-yard line. Got it?"—

Brandon Terrell

Examples of take five in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

The opening scene took five days of night shoots to capture and was more or less shot in sequence. —

Jordan Runtagh, People.com, 1 Nov. 2024 The entire divorce process took five and a half years. —

Dana Taylor, USA TODAY, 31 Oct. 2024 Just take five fingers, and the palm of your hand, and place it over your mouth. —

Chris Westfall, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024 Here, a game can take five to 15 minutes rather than the 90-minute commitment of the shortest bout of Mario Party proper. —

Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for take five