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

Rapid automation is already taking hold Lei highlighted the electric vehicle plant run by the tech giant as a clear sign of the transformation in progress. —Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 1 Dec. 2025

Physical and mental burnout was at risk of taking hold, an allegation usually levelled at managers when momentum is shifting away from their grasp. —Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2025

Other politicians believe that a deeper kind of rot has taken hold. —David Remnick, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025

Instead, it’s taken hold elsewhere. —Ezra Klein, Mercury News, 29 Nov. 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