1
as in facing
to enter into contest or conflict with
will take on his chief opponent in the next political debate
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hiring
to provide with a paying job
decided to take her on as store manager
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in borrowing
to take for one's own use (something originated by another)
recently arrived immigrants who are eager to take on the language and culture of their adopted homeland
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of taking on
Rocky, who has explored his sartorial aspirations in recent years by cochairing the 2025 Met Gala and taking on positions at Ray-Ban and Puma, was on trial a year ago for a 2021 shooting involving former friend A$AP Relli.
—
Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 9 Mar. 2026
Kimber White, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, credited Congress for taking on housing.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026
When Geese came back with last year’s Getting Killed, with a sound Sheffield compares to an In Rainbows cover band taking on Talking Heads’ Fear of Music, the world was more than ready.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 8 Mar. 2026
Perveen, a partner with her father in their law firm, is excited about taking on as clients director Subhas Ghoshal and his beautiful wife, Rochana, a popular movie star who recently left a rival studio.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 1 Mar. 2026
Hazel, her eyes taking on a blind look, was pale with rage.
—Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
Most of those private equity companies, like Blackstone , KKR , Carlyle Group , Apollo , and Ares , have really exceptional credit analysts, with whole groups of technology people who can examine and decide whether a slice of high-risk debt is worth taking on.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 1 Mar. 2026
The widespread belief is the Dolphins will seek a trade partner for Tagovailoa, likely taking on a large chunk of the $54 million he is guaranteed in 2026.
—David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 22 Feb. 2026
After a disappointing 4-13 season last year, the Patriots are back in the title game tonight, taking on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.
—Matt Schooley, CBS News, 8 Feb. 2026
Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 9 Mar. 2026
Kimber White, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, credited Congress for taking on housing.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026
When Geese came back with last year’s Getting Killed, with a sound Sheffield compares to an In Rainbows cover band taking on Talking Heads’ Fear of Music, the world was more than ready.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 8 Mar. 2026
Perveen, a partner with her father in their law firm, is excited about taking on as clients director Subhas Ghoshal and his beautiful wife, Rochana, a popular movie star who recently left a rival studio.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 1 Mar. 2026
Hazel, her eyes taking on a blind look, was pale with rage.
—Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
Most of those private equity companies, like Blackstone , KKR , Carlyle Group , Apollo , and Ares , have really exceptional credit analysts, with whole groups of technology people who can examine and decide whether a slice of high-risk debt is worth taking on.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 1 Mar. 2026
The widespread belief is the Dolphins will seek a trade partner for Tagovailoa, likely taking on a large chunk of the $54 million he is guaranteed in 2026.
—David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 22 Feb. 2026
After a disappointing 4-13 season last year, the Patriots are back in the title game tonight, taking on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.
—Matt Schooley, CBS News, 8 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for taking on
Verb
-
Two of the four suspects facing murder charges in the 2021 Northwest Miami-Dade club shooting that killed three people and injured 20 others won’t face the death penalty.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
12 Mar. 2026
-
An 11-year-old boy has been taken into custody and is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of his 5-year-old brother in Centennial, Colorado, investigators announced Wednesday.—
Nadine El-Bawab,
ABC News,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Also lagging has been the kind of hiring expected from a growing economy, exacerbated by thousands of job cuts in Silicon Valley, which firms say have been prompted by artificial intelligence investment and disruption.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Are agents successfully hiring human beings?—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
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And like its Big Tech rivals, Meta is borrowing tens of billions a year to finance these deals — another possible sign of overconfidence.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
12 Mar. 2026
-
So borrowing an amount such as $60,000 should be relatively easy to do now that median home equity levels are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.—
Matt Richardson,
CBS News,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The regulations have led to more fuel-efficient vehicles on the roads and, in recent years, hybrid and electric ones, critical to meeting the state’s climate laws.—
Blanca Begert,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Santi is now going to be a senior at De Longpre High School, his first day spent in large part by meeting the members of the Sunshowers, the school’s crack marching band, perhaps more popular than any particular sports team at the school.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Those lackluster results have come despite employing both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, two of the best players of their generation.—
Matt Moret,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
-
And autonomous drones are on the frontlines in the Russia-Ukraine war, with both Russia and Ukraine employing some variation of autonomous technology.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The legislature hurriedly endorsed the sale during a special session in 2024, adopting — without a public hearing — the enabling legislation needed to allow an unregulated, nonprofit company to buy a regulated water utility.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Animal Services asked for help either fostering, adopting or rescuing the dogs to free up kennel space.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Travelers across the United States are encountering unusually long airport security lines as a partial federal government shutdown strains staffing at the Transportation Security Administration.—
Zach Wichter,
USA Today,
10 Mar. 2026
-
State officials decided last year to end the contracts with the current regional vendors of the Next Generation 911 system after encountering call routing and service issues.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Those actions include recruiting an associate vice chancellor for campus and community safety, establishing an Initiative to Combat Antisemitism with dedicated resources and reorganizing the university’s Office of Civil Rights, according to Frenk.—
City News Service,
Daily News,
11 Mar. 2026
-
OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger recently joined OpenAI, adding another example of large companies recruiting developers behind emerging AI tools.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Taking on.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/taking%20on. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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