take hold

idiomatic 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

Dennis saw the changes at his local Starbucks taking hold in real time over the last six to nine months. —Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2025

But survey data recently released by Gallup paints a far different picture, one showing that the hybrid model has broadly taken hold since the COVID pandemic forced many companies to adopt one. —Justin Sablich, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025

So, the effect of taking hold of the House is only to give the Democratic Party leaders a publicity platform. —Tom Campbell, Oc Register, 7 Sep. 2025

In sociology and the social sciences, liminality describes the in‑between state when old structures are unraveling but new ones have not yet taken hold. —Hansel Alejandro Aguilar, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025

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