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

Los Angeles — Starting Thursday, Erik and Lyle Menendez will take turns facing a California parole board that will decide whether the brothers should have a chance at freedom after spending more than three decades behind bars for the 1989 killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills home. —Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2025

Four of us — Mark, Shayna, Sean and Rob — will take turns drafting ideas to improve the NHL. —Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2025

The two were expected to hold a joint news conference but instead took turns giving brief remarks. —Michelle L. Price, Twin Cities, 15 Aug. 2025

The next few images included the sonogram, with Courtney and Cole taking turns holding up the strip. —Kayla Grant, People.com, 8 Aug. 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