take hold

phrase

1

: to grasp, grip, or seize something

took hold and hung on tight

—often used with of

take hold of the railing

… she took hold of his arm with both her hands, and looked up eagerly—oh, with such terrible eagerness!—into his face.

—Anthony Trollope

—often used figuratively

As word of the subpoenas spread … confusion and hysteria took hold of the social set …

—Bob Colacello

I did not want Merlin to retire from the job until I was ready to take hold of it effectively myself …

—Mark Twain

2

: to become effective, established, or popular

The change in the law has not yet taken hold.

… a swath of land that has been spared from lava flows long enough that rich vegetation has had a chance to take hold.

—G. Brad Lewis

… here in central California the French aesthetic has recently taken hold.

—Rebecca Coffey

Examples of take hold in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Few are measuring whether that vision is actually taking hold. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2026

The film follows an insecure MBA student who fakes a broken ankle and poses as a medical student to win over a free-spirited woman who lives for music and dancing, only to see his lies unravel as real feelings take hold. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026

While the heaviest fighting in Gaza has subsided since the fragile ceasefire took hold in October, Israel has continued to carry out strikes in the territory, including some overnight and into Tuesday that killed several people. — ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026

Many of the victims are poor, and his camera’s tour of Black Brazilian lives hints at a multifaceted cultural portrait not usually contained within the Brazilian cinema that takes hold in North America. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 13 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for take hold

• copyhold
• decontrolled
• hundredfold
• manifold
• marigold
• oversold
• petioled
• sevenfold
• stranglehold
• subthreshold
• thousandfold
• uncontrolled