take to

verb

took to; taken to; taking to; takes to

transitive verb

1

: to go to or into (a place)

take to the woods/hills

Thousands of people took to the streets in protest. [=went out into the streets to protest]

He took to the airwaves [=he spoke on the radio] with his message.

2

: to begin doing (something) as a habit or regular practice

take to drink

—usually used with a following present participle

take to drinking/smoking

He's recently taken to staying up late on weekends.

A few of her classmates took to calling her Pipi, after Pippi Longstocking …

—Calvin Tomkins

Recently, he'd taken to wearing tuxedos and suits and had gotten a new car, she said.

—Laura Italiano and Tamar Lapin

3

: to adapt oneself to

They haven't taken well to the new schedule.

4

: to start to have a liking for

I took to her immediately.

He tried skiing and took to it quickly. [=he quickly learned how to ski and liked doing it]

Note: To take to something like a duck (takes) to water is to begin to do it, use it, etc., in a very quick, easy, and natural way.

She took to horseback riding like a duck to water.

Deanna takes to student life like a duck takes to water, doing all the things that we all did …

—Joe Anderton

see also take kindly to

Examples of take to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The filing also details the company's efforts to address a material weakness in internal controls over financial reporting and outlines steps being taken to remediate this issue. —Quartz Bot, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2024

Five police officers who rescued residents from inside of the building were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, the police chief said. —Nbc New York, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024

Jojo took to it at a young age, and is real interested. —Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 7 Nov. 2024

The six victims who were wounded were taken to the Orlando Regional Medical Center and were in stable condition, Smith said. —Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1