took up

past tense of take up
1
2
as in drank
to take in (something liquid) through small openings the soil was so dry that the plant seemed to take up the much-needed water instantly

Synonyms & Similar Words

3

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of took up The winger spent time with family and took up new sports in golf and padel during his downtime. Roshane Thomas, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025 None of them took up the offer from the production team. Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 8 Sep. 2025 Flaws in medical devices were not a new concept that the 2023 guidance took up. Christian Espinosa, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025 The documents are dated July 17 and July 21, respectively — more than a week before the City Council took up the mayor’s request to declare the three parcels surplus property. Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025 Fast forward to 1983, and another lab took up the mystery. Pranjal Malewar, New Atlas, 10 Aug. 2025 The other astronauts took up the name and in 2017, the International Astronomical Union, which governs official space nomenclature, broke its rule requiring features or objects named after people to to be named posthumously, and recognized Mount Marilyn. Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 9 Aug. 2025 By the early sixties, the New York School had, like a wave, risen toward its own collapse, and Schuyler, recovering from a long hospitalization, took up full-time residence at Fairfield and Anne Porter’s homes in Southampton and on Great Spruce Head Island, Maine. Dan Chiasson, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for took up
Verb
  • But when Allen lifted himself off the MetLife Stadium field after a run against the Jets, waved for backup Mitch Trubisky to immediately replace him, and then sprinted off the field as if he were being timed in the 40-yard dash, the four-time Pro Bowl tackle was downright scared.
    Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
  • The weight should be considered if the bike has to be moved by hand very often or will be lifted onto a vehicle's bike rack.
    Rick Barrett, jsonline.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • There was another meeting at Perry’s home in 2021, during which Dixon said the producer again drank too much and allegedly groped Dixon during a good-night hug, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
    Martha Ross, Mercury News, 10 Sep. 2025
  • People who work outside drank more sugary drinks than those who work inside, and the same went for families where the head of the household was less educated.
    Seth Borenstein, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Parents saved, students borrowed, and the diploma became shorthand for employability.
    Sarah Hernholm, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • By adding a new molecule— borrowed from skin care—to their Infiniment Coty Paris fragrance collection, perfumes achieve the unusually long wear time of 30 hours, something none of us or our industry judges have ever seen or smelled before.
    Megan McIntyre, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Getty Images Rec, a technology company serving the parks and recreation industry, has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round in which several former and current professional athletes participated.
    Tim Casey, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • The Eco Wave Power logo is displayed on a floater raised out of the water during a demonstration of Eco Wave Power electricity generation technology using the power of ocean waves in the harbor at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California, on August 26, 2025.
    Jeff Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • After the passing of Karl Maybach, his company was fully absorbed into Daimler/Mercedes-Benz in the 1960s, and Maybach-Mercedes rail engines were produced till 1966.
    Mark Ewing, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Lutkenhaus has absorbed most of this online reaction because getting compared to one of the NBA’s all-time greats is impossible to miss.
    George Ramsay, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • If my office is later notified that the city has adopted or implemented a policy, whether written or unwritten, that contravenes the statute, the city will again become ineligible for discretionary State funds.
    NWA Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Their university boards adopted the principles as official policy in the fall of 2024.
    David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 19 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Elle Fanning elevated double denim dressing while attending the Coach spring 2026 ready-to-wear collection during New York Fashion Week on Monday.
    Julia Teti, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Netflix in 2020 elevated Sarandos to be co-CEO alongside Hastings.
    Todd Spangler, Variety, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Getting swallowed by a tech giant expecting hockey-stick growth has proved untenable.
    Stefan Fatsis, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2025
  • In a sight that became more-than-familiar to Boise State fans, Jeanty seemed to be swallowed in the scrum at the line of scrimmage, before bursting out of the side and powering himself into the endzone.
    Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 7 Sep. 2025

Cite this Entry

“Took up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/took%20up. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.

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