take on

verb

took on; taken on; taking on; takes on

transitive verb

1

a

: to begin to perform or deal with : undertake

took on new responsibilities

b

: to contend with as an opponent

took on the neighborhood bully

2

: engage, hire

3

a

: to assume or acquire as or as if one's own

the city's plaza takes on a carnival air

—W. T. LeViness

b

: to have as a mathematical domain or range

what values does the function take on

intransitive verb

: to show one's feelings especially of grief or anger in a demonstrative way

she cried, and took on like a distracted body

—Daniel Defoe

Synonyms

• meet
• face
• encounter

Examples of take on in a Sentence

will take on his chief opponent in the next political debate

decided to take her on as store manager

Recent Examples on the Web

The Indiana Fever will take on the Phoenix Mercury in this WNBA matchup on Tuesday night at PHX Arena. —Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025

The Cincinnati Bearcats take on the Bowling Green Falcons this weekend. —Caroline Ritzie, The Enquirer, 3 Sep. 2025

And smaller startups continue to pose fierce competition with new takes on familiar snacks and meals. —Alina Selyukh, NPR, 2 Sep. 2025

Elsewhere in the episode, Olympia and her team — which also consists of Billy (David Del Rio) and Sarah (Leah Lewis) — take on an arson case. —Carson Blackwelder, People.com, 2 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1567, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Rhymes for take on

• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon
• chitosan
• cynodon
• denouement
• deuteron
• echelon

Kids Definition

take on

verb

1

: to struggle with as an opponent

2

: employ entry 1 sense 2

took on more workers

3

: to acquire (as an appearance or quality) as one's own

take on weight

4

: to make an unusual show of one's feelings especially of grief or anger

don't take on so