take hold

idiomatic phrase

1

: to grasp, grip, or seize something

took hold and hung on tight

—often used with of

take hold of the railing

… she took hold of his arm with both her hands, and looked up eagerly—oh, with such terrible eagerness!—into his face.

—Anthony Trollope

—often used figuratively

As word of the subpoenas spread … confusion and hysteria took hold of the social set …

—Bob Colacello

I did not want Merlin to retire from the job until I was ready to take hold of it effectively myself …

—Mark Twain

2

: to become effective, established, or popular

The change in the law has not yet taken hold.

… a swath of land that has been spared from lava flows long enough that rich vegetation has had a chance to take hold.

—G. Brad Lewis

… here in central California the French aesthetic has recently taken hold.

—Rebecca Coffey

Examples of take hold in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s when Work 3.0 took hold, revealing: • Skill density matters more than tenure. —Nikhil Arora, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025

From boycotts of Levi’s and Netflix (NFLX) to Tesla (TSLA), a slow-rolling rejection of American brands is taking hold. —Catherine Baab, Quartz, 7 May 2025

In its place, a narrative of decay has taken hold, evangelized by critics such as Gioia. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 5 May 2025

The Grammy-winning singer took hold of the stage at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles for the third night of her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin Circuit Tour on May 4. —Caché McClay, USA Today, 5 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for take hold

• copyhold
• decontrolled
• hundredfold
• manifold
• marigold
• oversold
• petioled
• sevenfold
• stranglehold
• subthreshold
• thousandfold
• uncontrolled