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

At Zhongshan High School in downtown Taipei, an instructor for the Forward Alliance NGO sets a steel pan with gasoline ablaze before asking a dozen volunteers to take turns dousing the flames with CO₂ extinguishers. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 23 Oct. 2025

My sibling would come every weekend with me, each taking turns caring for Cinco in between classes and marveling at his beauty. —Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025

The pair are said to have taken turns guarding the works overnight; the missing work is not yet confirmed to have been placed in the delivery van, and no arrests have yet been made. —News Desk, Artforum, 21 Oct. 2025

Players take turns throwing at the balloons. —Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Oct. 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