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
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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
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
My career in research started taking off at that college.
—Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
But Cholewa’s career actually started taking off toward the end of middle school.
—Dave Melton, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2025
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
My career in research started taking off at that college.
—Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
But Cholewa’s career actually started taking off toward the end of middle school.
—Dave Melton, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for taking off
Verb
-
Lock your home before departing.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Oct. 2025
-
On Monday, there were more than 6,100 delays across the country, including 42 flights that were departing from Burbank (amounting to 23 percent of the airport's outgoing schedule).—
Michael Cappetta,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But the building feels temporary, with United having previously discussed removing it.—
Laurie Whitwell,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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More than 200 bodies are still on the mountain, left there because of the difficulty, risk, and cost of removing them, the database says.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Business inventories also shrank, subtracting over three percentage points from GDP.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
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The Boys & Girls Club donation counter Bargatze spoke ahead of the show about his effort to keep speeches on time by subtracting from a $100,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club every time someone went over.—
Sandra Gonzalez,
CNN Money,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Three years before the famed film was released, Wojtowicz and a friend held up a Brooklyn bank in a 14-hour hostage ordeal, allegedly robbing the bank to help pay for his transgender partner’s gender-affirming surgery.—
Angela Andaloro,
PEOPLE,
4 Oct. 2025
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By Saturday morning, after robbing the second in Belmont, he was handcuffed.—
Théoden Janes,
Charlotte Observer,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Investigators determined that moments later, while exiting the plane via the jet bridge, there was allegedly an altercation with the gate agent that resulted in the victim being knocked to the ground.—
Colson Thayer,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
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Last season, Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead before exiting in six games, and lost shutout defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to the New York Rangers in free agency.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
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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
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Using debt wisely can also offer tax advantages, such as deducting mortgage interest from taxable income.—
Gabriel Shahin,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Hurts then hit Jahan Dotson for 24 yards, moving the Eagles to the Denver 29-yard line with nine seconds left.—
Nick Kosmider,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
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In a positive sign, Nunoo was moving his hands and fingers, according to Sutton.—
Walter Villa,
Miami Herald,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This helps the shoe absorb impact, pushing off energy back towards you and putting off foot fatigue.—
Jasmine Gomez,
Travel + Leisure,
1 Oct. 2025
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While automakers are putting off and/or cancelling vehicles that only run on electrons, given high development costs and a weak market, Subaru is confident in the direction it is headed.—
Eileen Falkenberg-Hull,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Taking off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/taking%20off. Accessed 10 Oct. 2025.
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