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

The goal of marketing is quickly changing by placing more emphasis on collaboration with the CEO and other C-Suite members to directly solve for consumer pain points, while taking on even more responsibility for branding and business growth. —Billee Howard, Forbes.com, 6 Apr. 2025

This type of subsidized housing also does not gain equity, which means it's not allowed to take on debt. —Jennifer Ludden, NPR, 6 Apr. 2025

The Maple Leafs head to Sunrise, Fla., to take on the Panthers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on TSN. —Nick Ashbourne, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025

The train pulls into Livingston a little late, thanks to taking on their frozen passenger. —Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 6 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1567, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Rhymes for take on

• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon
• chitosan
• cynodon
• denouement
• deuteron
• echelon

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