take flight

idiom

1
: to leave or run away from danger
Fearing arrest, they took flight and hid in the mountains.
2
US : to begin flying
The bird took flight when we tried to approach it.
3
US : to begin a period of rapid activity, development, or growth
The idea really took flight and soon it seemed everyone was copying it.

Examples of take flight in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In this iteration of the game, players no longer take to the field; instead, drones take flight. Gideon Kimbrell, Rolling Stone, 13 Mar. 2024 To anxiously take flight from its reality is another. Robert Pogue Harrison, The New York Review of Books, 15 Feb. 2024 Guests are welcome to participate in the Pink Tie Party, which kicks off the festival on March 15, and the Bloom Kite Festival, which invites attendees to take flight with their own kites on March 30, 2024. Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 29 Feb. 2024 After years of delays, billions of dollars in federal funding, and a spectacular second-stage explosion, the large and impressive Vulcan rocket is finally ready to take flight. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 5 Jan. 2024 The lunar lander, nicknamed Odysseus, or Odie for short, is set to take flight atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 12:57 a.m. Alexandra Banner, CNN, 13 Feb. 2024 Key West, Florida Winter is high season in the Florida Keys, where snowbirds take flight to soak up the island's mild weather and sapphire-blue shores. Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 10 Nov. 2023 But whatever their method, shrinking down was an essential step, as some of these lineages eventually evolved into birds, which needed lightweight bodies to take flight. Jack Tamisiea, Discover Magazine, 12 Dec. 2023 When characters take flight in the films of the master animator, there is always a deeper meaning. Maya Phillips, New York Times, 8 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'take flight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Cite this Entry

“Take flight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/take%20flight. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!