take on

verb

took on; taken on; taking on; takes on

transitive verb

1

a

: to begin to perform or deal with : undertake

took on new responsibilities

b

: to contend with as an opponent

took on the neighborhood bully

2

: engage, hire

3

a

: to assume or acquire as or as if one's own

the city's plaza takes on a carnival air

—W. T. LeViness

b

: to have as a mathematical domain or range

what values does the function take on

intransitive verb

: to show one's feelings especially of grief or anger in a demonstrative way

she cried, and took on like a distracted body

—Daniel Defoe

Synonyms

• battle
• encounter
• engage
• face
• meet

Examples of take on in a Sentence

will take on his chief opponent in the next political debate

decided to take her on as store manager

Recent Examples on the Web

But across three seasons, Mayor of Kingstown has been one of the most consistently compelling of Sheridan’s shows, with a fresh take on crime and punishment in a dying Rust Belt town. —Noel Murray, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024

The San Francisco 49ers take on the Seattle Seahawks at 1:05 p.m. PDT on Sunday, Nov. 17 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. —Pueng Vongs, The Mercury News, 16 Nov. 2024

Lead assistant coach David Adelman took on head coaching duties for the Nuggets in New Orleans, where the court was painted blue for their first NBA Cup game. —Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 15 Nov. 2024

Former tech executive Jeff Lawson took on the name Global Tetrahedron for his real company that acquired The Onion from G/O Media in April. —Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1567, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Kids Definition

take on

verb

1

: to struggle with as an opponent

2

: employ entry 1 sense 2

took on more workers

3

: to acquire (as an appearance or quality) as one's own

take on weight

4

: to make an unusual show of one's feelings especially of grief or anger

don't take on so