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

Advertisement An entire ecosystem of antiscience has taken hold and turned deadly. —Michael E. Mann, Time, 17 Sep. 2025

Morale dropped, uncertainty took hold, and a wave of voluntary departures followed. —Christopher Kaufman, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025

Soon, boundary-free mowing took hold, powered by new technologies like pure vision, UWB, and RTK—each with merits and drawbacks. —Ni Tao, Interesting Engineering, 15 Sep. 2025

The actress presides over the action as suspicion, paranoia, and dramatic twists take hold. —Jenzia Burgos, StyleCaster, 14 Sep. 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