take time

phrase

1

: to need or require time to happen or be done

You have to be patient. Things like this take time.

It may take some time for the medication to wear off.

The meeting won't take too much time.

This job is easy and will take no time at all.

2

or take the time : to use an amount of time in order to do something important

They never took the time to get to know her.

I took some time to think about it, and my answer is still "no."

Examples of take time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But my sense is that Detroit is focused on conducting a thorough search, and that’s going to take time. — Max Bultman, New York Times, 30 July 2026

The wife got too caught up in the pursuit and didn’t take time to make sure everything was handled properly. — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026

Any change through litigation could take time; lawsuits can’t be filed until the final text of the rule is published. — Lisa Song, CNN Money, 28 July 2026

Meetings, distractions, interruptions, and unnecessary work all take time. — Kate Wieczorek, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

Rhymes for take time

• aforetime
• allozyme
• anytime
• christmastime
• cybercrime
• dinnertime
• guggenheim
• isozyme
• lysozyme
• maritime
• mesenchyme
• overtime