1
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of took up
Six took up redistricting voluntarily, one was required to by its state constitution and another did so under court order.
—
David A. Lieb, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2026
Despite the focus on the Middle East, the leaders took up major regional flash points, including the South China Sea territorial disputes involving Beijing, a five-year civil war in Myanmar and a recent border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.
—Jim Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2026
The board took up Chapman’s previous offer to reduce her hours and forgo her benefits next year.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 8 May 2026
The Supreme Judicial Court took up the case, and is now weighing the lawsuit after hearing arguments from both sides last month.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 8 May 2026
Though the back-and-forth between council, city staff and developers took up much of the hearing, over a dozen citizens chimed in.
—Matthew Geiger, Denver Post, 1 May 2026
The officer — whose name has not been released — and his horse quickly took up the chase that was captured on his bodycam and also by a television news crew that happened to be in the area for an unrelated story.
—ABC News, 17 Apr. 2026
Hickey walks to support 7-year-old Lucy Dina Hickey took up an extra journey from Suffolk County's Wading River to Staten Island to support 7-year-old Lucy Dina.
—Jennifer Bisram, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
The court took up the issue at Wednesday’s hearing.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2026
David A. Lieb, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2026
Despite the focus on the Middle East, the leaders took up major regional flash points, including the South China Sea territorial disputes involving Beijing, a five-year civil war in Myanmar and a recent border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.
—Jim Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2026
The board took up Chapman’s previous offer to reduce her hours and forgo her benefits next year.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 8 May 2026
The Supreme Judicial Court took up the case, and is now weighing the lawsuit after hearing arguments from both sides last month.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 8 May 2026
Though the back-and-forth between council, city staff and developers took up much of the hearing, over a dozen citizens chimed in.
—Matthew Geiger, Denver Post, 1 May 2026
The officer — whose name has not been released — and his horse quickly took up the chase that was captured on his bodycam and also by a television news crew that happened to be in the area for an unrelated story.
—ABC News, 17 Apr. 2026
Hickey walks to support 7-year-old Lucy Dina Hickey took up an extra journey from Suffolk County's Wading River to Staten Island to support 7-year-old Lucy Dina.
—Jennifer Bisram, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
The court took up the issue at Wednesday’s hearing.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for took up
Verb
-
When France lifted the trophy two weeks later, ‘l’episode de l’extincteur’ was held up as a moment that had helped bring the squad closer together.—
Tom Williams,
New York Times,
17 May 2026
-
Masatake Yoshida lifted a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 1-all.—
Chad Bishop,
AJC.com,
17 May 2026
Verb
-
In the study, people who drank between two and three daily cups of coffee or one or two cups of tea had lower subjective cognitive decline and performed better on cognitive tests.—
Helen Carefoot,
Flow Space,
15 May 2026
-
This reductive view of the world—women things bad, men things good—is the mirror image of the worst excesses of 2010s Tumblr feminism, when introverted teenage girls posted hashtags like #KillAllMen and drank from mugs that read MALE TEARS.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
A lot of the stuff that people think is new or innovative now is actually something that’s been borrowed or co-opted from something else that came before, or it was at least inspired by something that came before.—
Marah Eakin,
Vulture,
20 May 2026
-
Karpathy was one of several OpenAI employees Musk borrowed from OpenAI to do months of free work at Tesla, where the development of self-driving vehicles wasn’t going as quickly as promised.—
Ashley Capoot,Lora Kolodny,
CNBC,
19 May 2026
Verb
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Analysts have raised concerns about concentration risks in South Korea's stock market, with an overreliance on a small group of companies raising the risk of volatility and vulnerability to geopolitical shocks, including a slowdown in data-center spending.—
Lim Hui Jie,
CNBC,
18 May 2026
-
Woldenberg, in response to the tariffs, had implemented a hiring freeze, put off plans to build a new warehouse, and raised the prices of his firm’s products.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
In fact, Musk sought to fold OpenAI into Tesla -- a move that would have absorbed the venture into a for-profit entity, lawyers for Altman said in a legal filing.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
18 May 2026
-
The region has absorbed a decade of being discovered and come out intact.—
Melinda Sheckells,
HollywoodReporter,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
The bald eagle has been a national emblem since Congress adopted the Great Seal in 1782, though it wasn’t designated the national bird until 2024.—
Sarah Raza,
Chicago Tribune,
15 May 2026
-
Though its origins are disputed, artists from across the world have adopted the aesthetic, offering creative takes that go from hyperrealistic to surreal to playful and bright.—
Diana Tsui,
Footwear News,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty The stage was festooned with balloons and a giant image of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public since being elevated to the position after the killing of his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
19 May 2026
-
Are more acute vulnerabilities being exposed by the rise in yields, and will elevated inflation expectations create an undertow to equity valuations?—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
19 May 2026
Verb
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Then Doris and her family are sent off on the train, swallowed whole by the Holocaust.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
-
Even the celebrity CEOs building our AI future have been swallowed by forces bigger than themselves.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Took up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/took%20up. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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