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TAKE TO
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Have a fancy or particular liking or desire for
Example:
She fancied a necklace that she had seen in the jeweler's window
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "take to" is one way to...):
desire; want (feel or have a desire for; want strongly)
"Take to" entails doing...:
like (find enjoyable or agreeable)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Sense 2
Meaning:
Develop a habit; apply oneself to a practice or occupation
Example:
Men take to the military trades
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s VERB-ing
Context examples:
I take to it kindly, like a duck to water.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
If I draw less, I shall read more; if I give up music, I shall take to carpet-work.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
The afternoon was wet: a walk the party had proposed to take to see a gipsy camp, lately pitched on a common beyond Hay, was consequently deferred.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
This he filled with the same oil as that used at the vicarage, and he carefully timed the period which it would take to be exhausted.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The study also estimates how long it will take to detect one of these mergers.
(Listening for Gravitational Waves Using Pulsars, NASA)
Quitting smoking is the most important step you can take to treat COPD.
(COPD, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
On the whole, I would recommend you to take to Doctors' Commons kindly, David.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
There are antiviral medicines you can take to prevent or treat swine flu.
(H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
The sixth house is also the house of health and the preventative measures you take to stay well and strong, while the eighth house, in addition to being the house of money, is also the house of surgery and payments given to you, or to the doctor on your behalf, through an insurance payout on a claim.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
A very natural and forgivable mistake, Meg, but one that had better be remedied before you take to different ways, for children should draw you nearer than ever, not separate you, as if they were all yours, and John had nothing to do but support them.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
