TAKING DOWN Synonyms: 150 Similar and Opposite Words

taking down

verb

present participle of take down

as in humiliating

to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes there's no need to take us down by making fun of our clothes

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as in knocking down

to take apart electricians will take down all the lights for the set after the play has finished its run

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in recording

to make a written note of took down the customer's contact information

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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 taking down The Milwaukee Brewers continued their winning streak on Monday night at Game 3 of the World Series, taking down the Tampa Bay Rays 10-1. — Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 27 Oct. 2026 Matt taking down the mobsters who wronged him may qualify as an understandable form of street justice, but his next move is unjustifiable. — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 26 Oct. 2026 The next three games have been very good wins for them, beating Auburn, Arkansas and, last week, taking down Alabama. — Outkick, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026 After taking down such accounts, companies would write reports and researchers (including us) would publish analyses to explain the evolving tactics, techniques, and procedures of online influence campaigns. — RenÉe Diresta, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026 Kristoffer Ajer opened the scoring Sunday with a brilliant half volley inside the far corner from the edge of the penalty area after taking down Martin Ødegaard’s free kick to set up the shot in the 36th minute. — ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026 By nightfall, the protests turned violent, people hurling bricks and taking down the American flag in favor of the Confederate colors. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026 Ashton Jeanty and the Las Vegas Raiders opened their season by taking down the Miami Dolphins 27-13 on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. — Sam Warren, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2026 That means replacing turf, putting down new field markings, taking down the goal posts, cleaning the entire place and the like. — Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for taking down

Verb

The Iranians are now setting the terms of this conflict and are routinely humiliating the American president.

— Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
Instead of demanding personal fealty or humiliating them to assert personal dominance, Lincoln absorbed their egos and occasional slights, elevating their talents and turning his fiercest political adversaries into his most devoted champions.

— Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 24 June 2026

Definition of humiliating

Verb

The Minutemen went on a 14-4 run powered by Wembley as the sophomore forward scored eight of his 15 points during the stretch, including knocking down a corner 3-pointer to give UMass a 14-6 lead.

— Greg Dudek, Boston Herald, 6 Nov. 2026
Last week, Ukraine ran out of Patriot interceptors – one of the few defensive weapons capable of knocking down a ballistic missile – leaving it far more vulnerable to Russian attacks.

— Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of knocking down

Verb

As the agents stood outside the emergency room entrance, a large crowd of protesters began to converge at the hospital, some banging pots and recording the interaction on their phones.

— Lauren Pozen, CBS News, 8 Nov. 2026
After recording the views, a recovery system Barnard called Repris consisted of a streamer to slow its drop and a GPS tracker to help locate the pod after landing.

— Muskan Bhatia, Interesting Engineering, 7 Nov. 2026

Definition of recording

Verb

The newspaper’s closure follows years of pressure As part of the Kremlin’s rampant crackdown on critics, Novaya Gazeta was fined after it was accused of discrediting Russia’s armed forces.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026
Instead of discrediting infringement arguments, this year generative AI company Bria launched Fibo, a tool that pays artist royalties to the creators of the original references.

— Rae Witte, Time, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of discrediting

Verb

Their lifting was contingent on Iraq’s dismantling its weapons of mass destruction program and agreeing to respect Kuwaiti sovereignty.

— S. C. M. Paine, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2026
To address this, former Fraunhofer ISE researchers developed power electronics that can connect different batteries without dismantling them.

— Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of dismantling

Verb

Fontecchio and Gardner were the new additions to the Heat’s bench unit after logging just five minutes and two minutes, respectively, across the first four games of this trip.

— Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 11 Nov. 2026
Even our hobbies have become things to document and measure, from logging films on Letterboxd to tracking our runs or taking aesthetic photos of our meals.

— Sonal Nain, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Nov. 2026

Definition of logging

Verb

My New York neighbors barely said hello; in Singapore, a stranger would probably politely look away rather than risk embarrassing you.

— Amanda Lee Koe, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
After those results went public, embarrassing Muñiz and a few other judges, the Florida Bar stopped conducting surveys and publishing the results … leaving Florida voters with even fewer resources.

— Scott Maxwell, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of embarrassing

Verb

This year’s contributions to Global Citizen will support a new campaign focused on breaking down barriers facing women and girls in health, education and economic opportunity.

— Jem Aswad, Variety, 5 Nov. 2026
This handsome volume runs through 90 European venues, breaking down their unique features, acoustic qualities and performance histories (recent and not so).

— Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026