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

Several youths were around the phone, taking it in turns to gossip and joke with the operator.

—Christopher Isherwood

Examples of take turns in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This is quickly turning into a season not about alliances but about voting blocs, and each of those blocs is always targeting each other, with at least one skilled player in the middle, taking turns eliminating each bloc’s power bit by bit. —Brian Moylan, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025

Public service representatives, including Tower Area Ambulance Services Director Suihkonen, were all taking turns getting dunked in the tank. —Susan Young, PEOPLE, 26 Nov. 2025

Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (an experienced Murray defender) can take turns wearing out Denver’s primary ball-handler. —Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 26 Nov. 2025

The two each took turns riding shotgun with the seven-time World Drivers’ Champion—shouting, laughing, and gripping their seats as Hamilton carved through the track. —Okla Jones, Essence, 24 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for take turns

• holofernes
• overturns
• subalterns
• adjourns
• concerns
• discerns
• downturns
• internes
• nocturnes
• returns
• sideburns
• churns