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

That suggests, worryingly, that the TACO trade — the idea that Trump will cave, again and again — has taken hold. —Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 8 July 2025

Like dinosaurs, outer space, and fire trucks, the Titanic belongs to that rare pantheon of childhood obsessions that takes hold early and never quite lets go. —Jordan Runtagh, People.com, 6 July 2025

While French food prepared with German steel was the standard of fine dining in the United States for many years, a growing interest in global cuisine and technique began taking hold in the mid-2000s. —Jesse Raub, Bon Appetit Magazine, 3 July 2025

The extra oil on the market has helped accommodate an annual surge in demand that takes hold over the summer traveling season, Aixa Diaz, a spokesperson for AAA, told ABC News. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 3 July 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