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

Elsewhere, the covid pandemic was just taking hold, and would soon make extended isolation a strange new experience for billions of people. — Jordan Salama, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

The parallel society Phillips warned about may already be taking hold. — Tyler Speicher, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2026

Starbucks' turnaround gains traction with consumers New consumer data offered encouraging evidence that the Starbucks turnaround is, indeed, taking hold. — Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2026

The story of the fourth record is of of the Attractions sort of taking hold of those songs and us just going berserk within six months. — Chris Willman, Variety, 8 Oct. 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