taken up

past participle of take up
1
2
as in absorbed
to take in (something liquid) through small openings the soil was so dry that the plant seemed to take up the much-needed water instantly

Synonyms & Similar Words

3

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of taken up Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to believe they will be taken up in the biblical Rapture, according to a new YouGov poll. Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025 However, the World Health Organization says the two-drug regimen can be taken up until the 12-week mark of pregnancy. Cheyenne Haslett, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2025 The different rulings from different circuits raise the odds of the cases being taken up by the Supreme Court. Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2025 Wednesday Season 2, Part 2, meanwhile, reintroduces the late Nevermore Principal Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christine), who now has taken up residence in Wednesday’s consciousness after she was gravely injured at the end of Part 1. Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025 The center of the home is taken up by its kitchen. New Atlas, 27 Aug. 2025 So why hasn’t this anti-discrimination organization ever taken up the struggle of Palestinians? Sahar Mustafah august 27, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025 New manufacturing facilities, particularly for clean technologies, have taken up new space in industrial parks. Justin Worland, Time, 27 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for taken up
Verb
  • The initial launch will aim for speeds near Mach 2, but project officials say later versions could reach Mach 4 or even Mach 5, the lower edge of true hypersonic velocity, once range restrictions are lifted.
    Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Near the climax of the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics—a living diorama of British history, directed by the filmmaker Danny Boyle—a model house was lifted away to reveal Berners-Lee.
    Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Our institutions are failing us — either corrupt or underfunded, gutted and useless — and we’re absorbed with stories of characters that manage to save themselves, and on their own terms.
    Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2025
  • Once absorbed by the body, it is converted into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), which plays a role in energy production, cellular communication, DNA repair, and more.
    Jamie Ducharme, Health, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • With an airbrush borrowed from his job at an ad agency, Man Ray would blast droplets of gouache onto board or heavy paper and use stencils to organize the spray.
    Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2025
  • The robber barons and telecom wildcatters borrowed to build their empires, and dragged their financiers down with them when the music stopped.
    Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 23 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The scale is staggering, even for a company that’s raised a record amount of private market cash and seen its valuation swell to $500 billion.
    MacKenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2025
  • The discovery renews scrutiny of Bolton’s handling of sensitive national security information and echoes long-standing concerns first raised during a contentious legal battle over his 2020 memoir.
    Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • For too long, histories of the war have emphasized its leaders, men like Thomas Müntzer in Thuringia, adopted by Friedrich Engels and then by the East German regime as a revolutionary hero to rival the reactionary colossus Luther.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025
  • The firm said that while robotics and automation are being adopted at a rapid clip for warehousing and logistics use cases, chief supply chain officers said that their organizations don’t have the internal expertise needed to reap the full benefits of emerging technologies.
    Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The seven-time Grammy winner has long been embraced by fans for pushing boundaries and using her voice to advocate for human rights — something the star says has been a guiding light for her.
    Melody Chiu, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2025
  • The result was Radius, a boutique label at The Weinstein Company, that embraced simultaneous VOD releases at a time when that was still taboo.
    Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 28 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • All meals included water, but participants drank similar amounts regardless of spiciness.
    Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Indigenous cultures in the region placed high value in cacao as a sacred crop, exchanged as a form of currency and made into a frothy, warm bitter beverage drank at key events in social and religious life, Chocolate Affairs Magazine said.
    Jenna Prestininzi, Freep.com, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • He was diagnosed with a right thigh injury and will have scans taken on Saturday.
    Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
  • The rapper and actor, 67, hosts the new A&E documentary Fame and Fentanyl, which sheds light on the devastating toll fentanyl has taken on modern-day America.
    Lizzie Hyman, People.com, 24 Aug. 2025

Cite this Entry

“Taken up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/taken%20up. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!