take up

1. Alternative form of take-up

take up (third-person singular simple present takes up, present participle taking up, simple past took up, past participle taken up)

1. (transitive) To lift; to raise.
   1. (transitive) To pick up.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Mark 2:11 ↗:

        I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

      • 1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “The Pool of Tears”, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC ↗, page 19 ↗:

        Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: […]

   2. (transitive) To remove (a ground or floor surface, including the bed of a road or the track of a railway).

      We're going to have to take up the floorboards.

      • 1876, Supreme Court of Iowa, June Term 1876 court record, “The Davenport Central Railway Co. v. The Davenport Gas Light Co., Appeal from Scott Circuit Court”, published in The American Railway Reports, Volume 14:

        It is hereby ordered, adjudged and decreed that a temporary writ of injunction issue, enjoining said defendant and all persons acting under or for it, from in any manner taking up, disturbing or interfering with the road-bed and track of said plaintiff so as to prevent the passage of cars thereon

      • 1915 April, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], “Taking Up Picadilly”, in Fifty-one Tales, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, →OCLC ↗:

        They had pickaxes in their hands and wore corduroy trousers and that little leather band below the knee that goes by the astonishing name of “York-to-London.” They seemed to be working with peculiar vehemence, so that I stopped and asked one what they were doing. “We are taking up Picadilly,” he said to me.

   3. (transitive) To absorb (a liquid), to soak up.
   4. (transitive, sewing) To shorten (a garment), especially by hemming.

      If we take up the sleeves a bit, that shirt will look much better on you.

      Synonyms: take in

   5. (transitive) To tighten or wind in (a rope, slack, etc.)

      Synonyms: take in

      The reel automatically took up the slack.

2. (transitive) To occupy; to consume (space or time).

   The books on finance take up three shelves.

   All my time is taken up with looking after the kids.

3. (transitive) To take, to assume (one’s appointed or intended place).

   She took up her post at the foot of the stairs.

4. (transitive) To set about doing or dealing with (something).
   1. (transitive) To begin doing (an activity) on a regular basis.

      I’ve taken up knitting.

      I wish to take up mathematics.

   2. (transitive) To begin functioning in (a role or position), to assume (an office).

      He took up his post as assistant director last Friday.

   3. (transitive) To address or discuss (an issue).

      Let’s take this up with the manager.

   4. (transitive) To accept, to adopt (a proposal, offer, request, cause, challenge, etc.).
   5. (transitive, with 'on') To accept (a proposal, offer, request, cause, challenge, etc.) from.

      Shall we take them up on their offer to help us move?

   6. (transitive) To join in (saying something).

      They took up the cry of their oppressed compatriots.

   7. (ambitransitive) To resume, to return to something that was interrupted.

      Let’s take up where we left off.

   8. (transitive) To implement, to employ, to put into use.
   9. (transitive, Canada) To review the solutions to a test or other assessment with a class.

      You have 30 minutes for the quiz. We’ll take up the answers at 1 o'clock.

   10. (transitive, Australia, New Zealand) To begin occupying and working (a plot of uncultivated land), to break in.
   11. (transitive, chiefly, Britain) To pay off, to clear (a debt, loan, mortgage, etc.).
5. (transitive, archaic) To arrest (a person).

   Synonyms: take in

   The police took up the suspect.

6. (transitive) To reprove or reproach (a person).
7. (transitive) To begin to support or patronize, to sponsor (a person), to adopt as protégé.

• Italian: sollevare, prendere
• Russian: поднимать

• Italian: accorciare
• Spanish: coger a, agarrar a

• Italian: occupare
• Spanish: ocupar

• Italian: dedicarsi
• Spanish: iniciarse en, dedicarse a

• Italian: rivolgersi
• Spanish: aceptar, participar

• Italian: accettare
• Russian: приня́ть
• Spanish: aceptar

• Italian: riprendere
• Spanish: comenzar, empezar