Take, v. t. [imp. Took p. p. Taken p. pr. & vb. n. Taking.]
 1. In an active sense; To lay hold of; to seize with the hands, or otherwise; to grasp; to get into one's hold or possession; to procure; to seize and carry away; to convey. Hence, specifically: --
 (a) To obtain possession of by force or artifice; to get the custody or control of; to reduce into subjection to one's power or will; to capture; to seize; to make prisoner; as, to take an army, a city, or a ship; also, to come upon or befall; to fasten on; to attack; to seize; -- said of a disease, misfortune, or the like.
    This man was taken of the Jews.   --Acts xxiii. 27.
 Men in their loose, unguarded hours they take;
 Not that themselves are wise, but others weak.   --Pope.
    They that come abroad after these showers are commonly taken with sickness.   --Bacon.
 There he blasts the tree and takes the cattle
 And makes milch kine yield blood.   --Shak.
 (b) To gain or secure the interest or affection of; to captivate; to engage; to interest; to charm.
    Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.   --Prov. vi. 25.
    Cleombroutus was so taken with this prospect, that he had no patience.   --Wake.
    I know not why, but there was a something in those half-seen features, -- a charm in the very shadow that hung over their imagined beauty, -- which took me more than all the outshining loveliness of her companions.   --Moore.
 (c) To make selection of; to choose; also, to turn to; to have recourse to; as, to take the road to the right.
    Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.  And Jonathan was taken.   --1 Sam. xiv. 42.
    The violence of storming is the course which God is forced to take for the destroying . . . of sinners.   --Hammond.
 (d) To employ; to use; to occupy; hence, to demand; to require; as, it takes so much cloth to make a coat; it takes five hours to get to Boston from New York by car.
    This man always takes time . . . before he passes his judgments.   --I. Watts.
 (e) To form a likeness of; to copy; to delineate; to picture; as, to take a picture of a person.
    Beauty alone could beauty take so right.   --Dryden.
 (f) To draw; to deduce; to derive. [R.]
    The firm belief of a future judgment is the most forcible motive to a good life, because taken from this consideration of the most lasting happiness and misery.   --Tillotson.
 (g) To assume; to adopt; to acquire, as shape; to permit to one's self; to indulge or engage in; to yield to; to have or feel; to enjoy or experience, as rest, revenge, delight, shame; to form and adopt, as a resolution; -- used in general senses, limited by a following complement, in many idiomatic phrases; as, to take a resolution; I take the liberty to say.
 (h) To lead; to conduct; as, to take a child to church.
 (i) To carry; to convey; to deliver to another; to hand over; as, he took the book to the bindery; he took a dictionary with him.
    He took me certain gold, I wot it well.   --Chaucer.
 (k) To remove; to withdraw; to deduct; -- with from; as, to take the breath from one; to take two from four.
 2. In a somewhat passive sense, to receive; to bear; to endure; to acknowledge; to accept. Specifically: --
 (a) To accept, as something offered; to receive; not to refuse or reject; to admit.
    Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer.   --Num. xxxv. 31.
    Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore.   --1 Tim. v. 10.
 (b) To receive as something to be eaten or drunk; to partake of; to swallow; as, to take food or wine.
 (c) Not to refuse or balk at; to undertake readily; to clear; as, to take a hedge or fence.
 (d) To bear without ill humor or resentment; to submit to; to tolerate; to endure; as, to take a joke; he will take an affront from no man.
 (e) To admit, as, something presented to the mind; not to dispute; to allow; to accept; to receive in thought; to entertain in opinion; to understand; to interpret; to regard or look upon; to consider; to suppose; as, to take a thing for granted; this I take to be man's motive; to take men for spies.
    You take me right.   --Bacon.
    Charity, taken in its largest extent, is nothing else but the science love of God and our neighbor.   --Wake.
    [He] took that for virtue and affection which was nothing but vice in a disguise.   --South.
    You'd doubt his sex, and take him for a girl.   --Tate.
 (f) To accept the word or offer of; to receive and accept; to bear; to submit to; to enter into agreement with; -- used in general senses; as, to take a form or shape.
    I take thee at thy word.   --Rowe.
 Yet thy moist clay is pliant to command; . . .
 Not take the mold.   --Dryden.
 3. To make a picture, photograph, or the like, of; as, to take a group or a scene. [Colloq.]
 4.  To give or deliver (a blow to); to strike; hit; as, he took me in the face; he took me a blow on the head. [Obs. exc. Slang or Dial.]
 To be taken aback, To take advantage of, To take air, etc. See under Aback, Advantage, etc.
 To take aim, to direct the eye or weapon; to aim.
 To take along, to carry, lead, or convey.
 To take arms, to commence war or hostilities.
 To take away, to carry off; to remove; to cause deprivation of; to do away with; as, a bill for taking away the votes of bishops. “By your own law, I take your life away.” --Dryden.
 To take breath, to stop, as from labor, in order to breathe or rest; to recruit or refresh one's self.
 To take care, to exercise care or vigilance; to be solicitous. “Doth God take care for oxen?” --1 Cor. ix. 9.
 To take care of, to have the charge or care of; to care for; to superintend or oversee.
 To take down. (a) To reduce; to bring down, as from a high, or higher, place; as, to take down a book; hence, to bring lower; to depress; to abase or humble; as, to take down pride, or the proud. “I never attempted to be impudent yet, that I was not taken down.” --Goldsmith. (b) To swallow; as, to take down a potion. (c) To pull down; to pull to pieces; as, to take down a house or a scaffold. (d) To record; to write down; as, to take down a man's words at the time he utters them.
 To take effect, To take fire. See under Effect, and Fire.
 To take ground to the right or To take ground to the left Mil., to extend the line to the right or left; to move, as troops, to the right or left.
 To take heart, to gain confidence or courage; to be encouraged.
 To take heed, to be careful or cautious. “Take heed what doom against yourself you give.” --Dryden.
 To take heed to, to attend with care, as, take heed to thy ways.
 To take hold of, to seize; to fix on.
 To take horse, to mount and ride a horse.
 To take in. (a) To inclose; to fence. (b) To encompass or embrace; to comprise; to comprehend. (c) To draw into a smaller compass; to contract; to brail or furl; as, to take in sail. (d) To cheat; to circumvent; to gull; to deceive. [Colloq.] (e) To admit; to receive; as, a leaky vessel will take in water. (f) To win by conquest. [Obs.]
 For now Troy's broad-wayed town
 He shall take in.   --Chapman.
 (g) To receive into the mind or understanding. “Some bright genius can take in a long train of propositions.” --I. Watts. (h) To receive regularly, as a periodical work or newspaper; to take. [Eng.]
 To take in hand. See under Hand.
 To take in vain, to employ or utter as in an oath. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” --Ex. xx. 7.
 To take issue. See under Issue.
 To take leave. See Leave, n., 2.
 To take a newspaper, magazine, or the like, to receive it regularly, as on paying the price of subscription.
 To take notice, to observe, or to observe with particular attention.
 To take notice of. See under Notice.
 To take oath, to swear with solemnity, or in a judicial manner.
 To take on, to assume; to take upon one's self; as, to take on a character or responsibility.
 To take one's own course, to act one's pleasure; to pursue the measures of one's own choice.
 To take order for. See under Order.
 To take order with, to check; to hinder; to repress. [Obs.] --Bacon.
 To take orders. (a) To receive directions or commands. (b) Eccl. To enter some grade of the ministry. See Order, n., 10.
 To take out. (a) To remove from within a place; to separate; to deduct. (b) To draw out; to remove; to clear or cleanse from; as, to take out a stain or spot from cloth. (c) To produce for one's self; as, to take out a patent.  (d) To put an end to; as, to take the conceit out of a man. (e) To escort; as, to take out to dinner.
 To take over, to undertake; to take the management of. [Eng.] --Cross (Life of G. Eliot).
 To take part, to share; as, they take part in our rejoicing.
 To take part with, to unite with; to join with.
 To take place, root, sides, stock, etc. See under Place, Root, Side, etc.
 To take the air. (a) Falconry To seek to escape by trying to rise higher than the falcon; -- said of a bird. (b) See under Air.
 To take the field. Mil. See under Field.
 To take thought, to be concerned or anxious; to be solicitous. --Matt. vi. 25, 27.
 To take to heart. See under Heart.
 To take to task, to reprove; to censure.
 To take up. (a) To lift; to raise. --Hood. (b) To buy or borrow; as, to take up goods to a large amount; to take up money at the bank. (c) To begin; as, to take up a lamentation. --Ezek. xix. 1. (d) To gather together; to bind up; to fasten or to replace; as, to take up raveled stitches; specifically Surg., to fasten with a ligature. (e) To engross; to employ; to occupy or fill; as, to take up the time; to take up a great deal of room. (f) To take permanently. “Arnobius asserts that men of the finest parts . . . took up their rest in the Christian religion.” --Addison. (g) To seize; to catch; to arrest; as, to take up a thief; to take up vagabonds. (h) To admit; to believe; to receive. [Obs.]
    The ancients took up experiments upon credit.   --Bacon.
 (i) To answer by reproof; to reprimand; to berate.
    One of his relations took him up roundly.   --L'Estrange.
 (k) To begin where another left off; to keep up in continuous succession; to take up (a topic, an activity).
 Soon as the evening shades prevail,
 The moon takes up the wondrous tale.   --Addison.
 (l) To assume; to adopt as one's own; to carry on or manage; as, to take up the quarrels of our neighbors; to take up current opinions. “They take up our old trade of conquering.” --Dryden. (m) To comprise; to include. “The noble poem of Palemon and Arcite . . . takes up seven years.” --Dryden. (n) To receive, accept, or adopt for the purpose of assisting; to espouse the cause of; to favor. --Ps. xxvii. 10. (o) To collect; to exact, as a tax; to levy; as, to take up a contribution. “Take up commodities upon our bills.” --Shak. (p) To pay and receive; as, to take up a note at the bank. (q) Mach. To remove, as by an adjustment of parts; as, to take up lost motion, as in a bearing; also, to make tight, as by winding, or drawing; as, to take up slack thread in sewing. (r) To make up; to compose; to settle; as, to take up a quarrel. [Obs.] --Shak. -- (s) To accept from someone, as a wager or a challenge; as, J. took M. up on his challenge.
 To take up arms. Same as To take arms, above.
 To take upon one's self. (a) To assume; to undertake; as, he takes upon himself to assert that the fact is capable of proof. (b) To appropriate to one's self; to allow to be imputed to, or inflicted upon, one's self; as, to take upon one's self a punishment.
 To take up the gauntlet. See under Gauntlet.


 Heart n.
 1. Anat. A hollow, muscular organ, which, by contracting rhythmically, keeps up the circulation of the blood.
    Why does my blood thus muster to my heart!   --Shak.
 Note: ☞ In adult mammals and birds, the heart is four-chambered, the right auricle and ventricle being completely separated from the left auricle and ventricle; and the blood flows from the systemic veins to the right auricle, thence to the right ventricle, from which it is forced to the lungs, then returned to the left auricle, thence passes to the left ventricle, from which it is driven into the systemic arteries.  See Illust. under Aorta.  In fishes there are but one auricle and one ventricle, the blood being pumped from the ventricle through the gills to the system, and thence returned to the auricle. In most amphibians and reptiles, the separation of the auricles is partial or complete, and in reptiles the ventricles also are separated more or less completely.
    The so-called lymph hearts, found in many amphibians, reptiles, and birds, are contractile sacs, which pump the lymph into the veins.
 2. The seat of the affections or sensibilities, collectively or separately, as love, hate, joy, grief, courage, and the like; rarely, the seat of the understanding or will; -- usually in a good sense, when no epithet is expressed; the better or lovelier part of our nature; the spring of all our actions and purposes; the seat of moral life and character; the moral affections and character itself; the individual disposition and character; as, a good, tender, loving, bad, hard, or selfish heart.
    Hearts are dust, hearts' loves remain.   --Emerson.
 3. The nearest the middle or center; the part most hidden and within; the inmost or most essential part of any body or system; the source of life and motion in any organization; the chief or vital portion; the center of activity, or of energetic or efficient action; as, the heart of a country, of a tree, etc.
    Exploits done in the heart of France.   --Shak.
 Peace subsisting at the heart
 Of endless agitation.   --Wordsworth.
 4. Courage; courageous purpose; spirit.
    Eve, recovering heart, replied.   --Milton.
    The expelled nations take heart, and when they fly from one country invade another.   --Sir W. Temple.
 5. Vigorous and efficient activity; power of fertile production; condition of the soil, whether good or bad.
    That the spent earth may gather heart again.   --Dryden.
 6. That which resembles a heart in shape; especially, a roundish or oval figure or object having an obtuse point at one end, and at the other a corresponding indentation, -- used as a symbol or representative of the heart.
 7. One of the suits of playing cards, distinguished by the figure or figures of a heart; as, hearts are trumps.
 8. Vital part; secret meaning; real intention.
    And then show you the heart of my message.   --Shak.
 9. A term of affectionate or kindly and familiar address. “I speak to thee, my heart.”
 Note: ☞ Heart is used in many compounds, the most of which need no special explanation; as, heart-appalling, heart-breaking, heart-cheering, heart-chilled, heart-expanding, heart-free, heart-hardened, heart-heavy, heart-purifying, heart-searching, heart-sickening, heart-sinking, heart-sore, heart-stirring, heart-touching, heart-wearing, heart-whole, heart-wounding, heart-wringing, etc.
 After one's own heart, conforming with one's inmost approval and desire; as, a friend after my own heart.
    The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart.   --1 Sam. xiii. 14.

 At heart, in the inmost character or disposition; at bottom; really; as, he is at heart a good man.
 By heart, in the closest or most thorough manner; as, to know or learn by heart. “Composing songs, for fools to get by heart” (that is, to commit to memory, or to learn thoroughly). --Pope.
 to learn by heart, to memorize.
 For my heart, for my life; if my life were at stake. [Obs.] “I could not get him for my heart to do it.” --Shak.
 Heart bond Masonry, a bond in which no header stone stretches across the wall, but two headers meet in the middle, and their joint is covered by another stone laid header fashion. --Knight.
 Heart and hand, with enthusiastic coöperation.
 Heart hardness, hardness of heart; callousness of feeling; moral insensibility. --Shak.
 Heart heaviness, depression of spirits. --Shak.
 Heart point Her., the fess point. See Escutcheon.
 Heart rising, a rising of the heart, as in opposition.
 Heart shell Zool., any marine, bivalve shell of the genus Cardium and allied genera, having a heart-shaped shell; esp., the European Isocardia cor; -- called also heart cockle.
 Heart sickness, extreme depression of spirits.
 Heart and soul, with the utmost earnestness.
 Heart urchin Zool., any heartshaped, spatangoid sea urchin. See Spatangoid.
 Heart wheel, a form of cam, shaped like a heart. See Cam.
 In good heart, in good courage; in good hope.
 Out of heart, discouraged.
 Poor heart, an exclamation of pity.
 To break the heart of. (a) To bring to despair or hopeless grief; to cause to be utterly cast down by sorrow. (b) To bring almost to completion; to finish very nearly; -- said of anything undertaken; as, he has broken the heart of the task.
 To find in the heart, to be willing or disposed. “I could find in my heart to ask your pardon.” --Sir P. Sidney.
 To have at heart, to desire (anything) earnestly.
 To have in the heart, to purpose; to design or intend to do.
 To have the heart in the mouth, to be much frightened.
 To lose heart, to become discouraged.
 To lose one's heart, to fall in love.
 To set the heart at rest, to put one's self at ease.
 To set the heart upon, to fix the desires on; to long for earnestly; to be very fond of.
 To take heart of grace, to take courage.
 To take to heart, to grieve over.
 To wear one's heart upon one's sleeve, to expose one's feelings or intentions; to be frank or impulsive.
 With all one's heart, With one's whole heart, very earnestly; fully; completely; devotedly.