1
as in departing
to leave a place often for another
I can only stay for a few minutes, and then I'll need to take off again
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in removing
to rid oneself of (a garment)
take off your coat and stay awhile
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in subtracting
to take away (an amount or number) from a total
the store will take an additional 20% off if you bring in this coupon
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in robbing
slang
to remove valuables from (a place) unlawfully
a gangbanger who decided to take off some fast-food joint
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of taking off
These getaways centered around learning are taking off in popularity, and destinations and hotels are taking notice.
—
Essence, 20 Oct. 2025
Photos released earlier by the command also show MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters taking off from the destroyer USS and the amphibious transport dock USS during a SINKEX as part of Exercise UNITAS 2025 on September 28.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025
Denver International and Newark Liberty International airports saw ground delays where flights were prohibited from taking off until controllers were able to handle them.
—Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025
The market is clearly taking off — and fast.
—Chris Dong, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
The winter coming home sad, the summer coming home happy, slamming the door during an argument, taking off my shoes and sitting on the floor tired from something.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
The state encounters, which are in addition to what local police are doing, add to the total number of people that ICE is taking off the street and preparing to deport.
—Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 2 Sep. 2025
Swapping out the old blade for a new one requires opening the two small slider locks and taking off the single handle panel to access the internal hardware.
—New Atlas, 2 Sep. 2025
On his 32-yard rushing touchdown, Pribula fought hard in the pocket before taking off.
—Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 29 Aug. 2025
Essence, 20 Oct. 2025
Photos released earlier by the command also show MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters taking off from the destroyer USS and the amphibious transport dock USS during a SINKEX as part of Exercise UNITAS 2025 on September 28.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025
Denver International and Newark Liberty International airports saw ground delays where flights were prohibited from taking off until controllers were able to handle them.
—Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025
The market is clearly taking off — and fast.
—Chris Dong, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
The winter coming home sad, the summer coming home happy, slamming the door during an argument, taking off my shoes and sitting on the floor tired from something.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
The state encounters, which are in addition to what local police are doing, add to the total number of people that ICE is taking off the street and preparing to deport.
—Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 2 Sep. 2025
Swapping out the old blade for a new one requires opening the two small slider locks and taking off the single handle panel to access the internal hardware.
—New Atlas, 2 Sep. 2025
On his 32-yard rushing touchdown, Pribula fought hard in the pocket before taking off.
—Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for taking off
Verb
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Since Olympic charter flights to Milan will be departing from the New York area, and because the Islanders had been promised an event in February 2026, the possibility of doing a big press availability was discussed as an alternative.—
Chris Johnston,
New York Times,
22 Oct. 2025
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The foundation prevailed over Lund and other departing directors in its drive for immediate, sweeping changes on the board in support of new Chief Executive Officer Maziar Mike Doustdar’s strategy.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Besides regularly removing dust that forms on the fan blades, cleaning needs can also change with the seasons.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
20 Oct. 2025
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Scientists at the University of Surrey have discovered a simple tweak that could boost sodium-ion battery performance, by leaving water inside a key component rather than removing it.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The leap from knots to links is a relatively small one, but mathematicians can extend the ideas of knot theory to study mind-bending concepts such as higher-dimensional knots, surfaces with knotted edges and difficult-to-imagine objects obtained by subtracting a knot from three-dimensional space.—
Emma R. Hasson,
Scientific American,
3 Oct. 2025
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Business inventories also shrank, subtracting over three percentage points from GDP.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The man tried to escape, but the group followed him, knocked him to the ground and continued attacking him before robbing him of his watch and shoes, prosecutors said.—
Jennifer Rodriguez,
Miami Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
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The series also links Gein — who confessed to killing two women, robbing countless graves and making items of the body parts of his victims — to both the sensation about true crime stories and to many horror films that featured over-the-top killers.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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With the Rockets up one, Durant fouled Gilgeous-Alexander with two seconds left, picking up his sixth personal foul and exiting the game.—
Ben Morse,
CNN Money,
22 Oct. 2025
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Jimenez was captured on surveillance footage exiting the truck and running after Vargas with a handgun.—
KC Baker,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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You are entitled to a refund of the security deposit or any balance left after deducting legitimate charges, according to Legal Aid of North Carolina.—
Kendrick Marshall,
Charlotte Observer,
17 Oct. 2025
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The review added that the ongoing bit about the deducting from a charitable donation for longer speech set a negative tone.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Also on Sunday, Sturm scratched second line center Casey Mittelstadt, moving Pavel Zacha to center and re-inserting Khusnutdinov back into the lineup and onto the second line.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
20 Oct. 2025
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That said, there was energy for the gap scheme to be the default moving forward.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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All of the backup plans that people are preparing to enact - borrowing, trying to visit food banks, putting off other bills - have their own costs and downstream effects.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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Hoka Women’s Transport Shoes This cushy shoe is designed with a rocker bottom that pushes you into your next step, putting off foot fatigue for longer.—
Jasmine Gomez,
Travel + Leisure,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Taking off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/taking%20off. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
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