TOOK UP Synonyms: 103 Similar and Opposite Words

took up

verb

past tense of take up

as in lifted

to move from a lower to a higher place or position please take up the blanket so I can look underneath it

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as in drank

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

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as in borrowed

to take for one's own use (something originated by another) one cluster of fans started chanting the team name of the champions, and the crowd quickly took up the cry

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 took up Several militants took up positions inside the complex, and a shootout with security officers ensued, said police official Mohammad Sadiq. — Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026 Penalties and a 10-minute, 32-second drive from the Trojans took up most of the first quarter. — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 20 Sep. 2026 About a year ago, Buckmaster took up Córdoba and Martínez-Zoroa’s approach, working with Alpöge and using LLMs from OpenAI’s rival company Anthropic to parse through the mathematical possibilities. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 8 Sep. 2026 İnönü, resisting advice from military leaders to ignore the result, resigned from the presidency and took up a new role as the leader of the opposition in the parliament. — Nick Taborall, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2026 Trump has long talked about his survival as divinely guided, a theme Vance took up. — Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026 Sliman took up clay and hay mixtures used in village open-air ovens. — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 26 Aug. 2026 Here was an opportunity to be bold and imaginative but only a few clubs, such as Huddersfield Town (again, more on them later), took up the challenge. — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026 In June, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the first AI tax in history, the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which took up our AI equity tax framework. — Sarah Polcz, Time, 12 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for took up

Verb

In response, several protesters were forcibly removed by the authorities from the building doorway, including being lifted by their arms and legs, per Reuters.

— Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 25 Sep. 2026
In Vietnam, the FIFA World Cup lifted premium VOD viewing by 22% this year.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of lifted

Verb

The share of adults who drank any alcohol in the past year fell by nearly 2%, and the share who drank heavily fell by more than 8% from 2022 to 2024, according to the study.

— Avni Trivedi, CNN Money, 21 Sep. 2026
His daughter's husband, who drank heavily, toppled off his boat and drowned.

— Kamala Thiagarajan, NPR, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of drank

Verb

Every detail is borrowed from the banks AmaMagdalena carries 60 guests in 30 staterooms.

— Condé Nast Traveler, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Sep. 2026
Historically, banks were required to hold a fraction of certain deposits as reserves, and lent or borrowed to meet those requirements.

— David McMillin, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of borrowed

Verb

Bear 620 was raised with her cousin, Bear #690 (Bean), who won the Fat Bear Week Junior competition in 2022.

— Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 25 Sep. 2026
Speaking a week after the Federal Open Market Committee raised benchmark borrowing rates by a quarter percentage point, Paulson said inflation trends are still worrying.

— Jeff Cox, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of raised

Verb

Six decades earlier, on the same grounds, a young Muhammad Ali absorbed a famous left hook from Henry Cooper late in the fourth round, then finished the fight in the fifth when the referee stopped it because of a severe cut over Cooper’s eye.

— Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2026
Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 1 hour.

— ABC News, ABC News, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of absorbed

Verb

Between a courier caught in the middle of a zombie virus outbreak and a scuba diver swallowed whole by a sperm whale, both films put Abrams’ respective lead characters, Bryan and Jay, through uniquely harrowing one-man crucibles.

— Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026
The 30-piece toy sets include 2-inch figures that contain magnets in the hands and feet, which can be detached and swallowed.

— Vanessa Etienne, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026