take turns
idiomatic phrase
variants
also British take it in turns
: to do something one after another in regular succession in order to share the responsibility or opportunity of doing it : alternate
We take turns washing the dishes.
Almost immediately, Rick and Diane begin videotaping their classroom lessons, letting their students take turns with the cameras.—
Ann Bradley
Ann BradleySeveral youths were around the phone, taking it in turns to gossip and joke with the operator.—Christopher Isherwood
Christopher IsherwoodExamples of take turns in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That experience informed a two-story-tall scaffolding structure where 12 artists took turns live-painting, the latter’s work overlaying its predecessor’s.
—Denni Hu, Footwear News, 14 July 2025
The way the sport works is there are typically three players a side, with each side taking turns batting while the other is in the field.
—Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 July 2025
Fisherman, 39, was charged in December with pinning down a woman as Oren and Alon Alexander took turns raping her in a luxurious Miami Beach hi-rise on New Year’s Eve in 2016.
—Miami Herald, 8 July 2025
Guests gathered at the ceremony took turns to speak, including Indian Parliamentary and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, a practicing Buddhist, who had earlier made a rare statement contradicting China by backing the Dalai Lama’s position on his successor.
—Reuters, NBC news, 6 July 2025
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Denni Hu, Footwear News, 14 July 2025
The way the sport works is there are typically three players a side, with each side taking turns batting while the other is in the field.
—Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 July 2025
Fisherman, 39, was charged in December with pinning down a woman as Oren and Alon Alexander took turns raping her in a luxurious Miami Beach hi-rise on New Year’s Eve in 2016.
—Miami Herald, 8 July 2025
Guests gathered at the ceremony took turns to speak, including Indian Parliamentary and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, a practicing Buddhist, who had earlier made a rare statement contradicting China by backing the Dalai Lama’s position on his successor.
—Reuters, NBC news, 6 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for take turns
Cite this Entry
“Take turns.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/take%20turns. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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