verb
- Pursue or resume.
- usage: "take up a matter for consideration"
- synonyms: take up
- Adopt.
- usage: "take up new ideas"
- Turn one's interest to.
- usage: "He took up herpetology at the age of fifty"
- synonyms: take up
- Take up time or space.
- usage: "take up the slack"
- synonyms: take up
- Begin work or acting in a certain capacity, office or job.
- usage: "Take up a position"; "start a new job"
- Take up and practice as one's own.
- Occupy or take on.
- usage: "He assumes the lotus position"; "She took her seat on the stage"; "We took our seats in the orchestra"; "She took up her position behind the tree"; "strike a pose"
- Take up a liquid or a gas either by adsorption or by absorption.
- Take out or up with or as if with a scoop.
- usage: "scoop the sugar out of the container"
- Accept.
- usage: "The cloth takes up the liquid"
- Take in, also metaphorically.
- usage: "The sponge absorbs water well"; "She drew strength from the minister's words"
- Take up as if with a sponge.
- Return to a previous location or condition.
- usage: "The painting resumed its old condition when we restored it"
adjective
- Having or showing excessive or compulsive concern with something.
- usage: "became more and more haunted by the stupid riddle"; "was absolutely obsessed with the girl"; "got no help from his wife who was preoccupied with the children"; "he was taken up in worry for the old woman"
- synonyms: haunted, obsessed, preoccupied
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). taken up. Retrieved September 21, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/taken_up/definitions/1185020 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "taken up" http://smartdefine.org/taken_up/definitions/1185020 (accessed September 21, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, taken up, Smart Define, viewed 21 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/taken_up/definitions/1185020>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "taken up" 23 October 2010. Web. 21 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/taken_up/definitions/1185020> |