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

In that path, the moon will fully block the sun’s light and darkness will take hold for a few minutes in the middle of the afternoon. —Denise Chow, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2024

The goals of the seed-planting effort include stabilizing the wet sediment, preventing nonnative weeds from taking hold, and accelerating the regrowth of grasslands, chaparral and forests. —Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2024

By the time realistic politics take hold, whatever opportunities this horrible war creates for Israel may have been lost. —Andrew Exum, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2024

Although it’s become more apparent since the November election, the anti-immigrant, anti-business mood that’s taken hold of the Netherlands has been brewing for years. —Bysarah Jacob, Fortune Europe, 27 Mar. 2024

Although maple syrup has been made in New Jersey since the state was populated mainly by Native Americans, who shared their knowledge with settlers, no large-scale industry took hold, particularly in the state’s south. —Wayne Parry, Fortune, 25 Mar. 2024

The Democratic National Committee, which is helping re-elect Biden, also continues to outpace the Republican National Committee, where Trump loyalists have taken hold. —Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2024

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark borrowing rate 11 times beginning in March of 2022 in an effort to bring down the four-decade high inflation that took hold after the economy roared back from the COVID-19 recession of 2020. —Matt Ott, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024

Theories of American decay have taken hold among many Chinese nationalists, who are increasingly convinced that China’s time is now. —Lily Kuo, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1