take notice

idiomatic phrase

: to become aware of or give attention to something or someone : to observe or treat something or someone with special attention

… one Saturday in October 1984, San Francisco coach Bill Walsh flipped on the TV to watch college football, saw Rice on the highlights and took notice.

—Peter King

—often used with of

It was a while before anyone took notice of the change.

… suggests that the academy is at last beginning to sit up and take notice of how the world really works.

—Terry Teachout

They took no notice of him. [=they ignored him]

Examples of take notice in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Both the agency and its commission failed to take notice of Costa’s record until now. —Rebecca San Juan, Miami Herald, 23 May 2024

Other Sonoma County communities took notice, starting with the tiny city of Cotati, where Jenny Blaker and Woody Hastings were fighting multiple gas station proposals in the rural part of the county. —Sierra Lopez, The Mercury News, 20 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1586, in the meaning defined above