In British English the phrases ‘to take down a notch’ or ‘to take down a peg’ are commonly used in conversation to express lowering/reducing someone in power. For example, “He’s so arrogant! I’d like to take him down a notch”.
TAKE
OUT
Take something out on someone
To treat someone badly because you feel upset or angry
Sorry, I was very upset yesterday and I took it out on you.
Take it out of you
Something that requires a lot of effort and makes you tired
The journey to work this morning was a nightmare! It really took it out of me.
Take someone out
Go somewhere with someone, you usually invite them and pay
David took his girlfriend out for dinner.
Take something out
Buy food from a restaurant and eat it elsewhere
Do you want that to eat in or take out?
Remove something from its place
took out my wallet from my bag.
AWAY
Take someone away
To reduce the positive effect of something
The drunken fight after the party took away from the celebration.
Take away from something
To get a piece of information or message from something
What I took away from that film is that neither side wins in a war.
To buy food from a restaurant and eat it elsewhere
We ordered Chinese food to take away
OFF
Take something off
To remove a piece of clothing
t was hot in the room so he took off his jumper.
Imitate/impersonate somebody
She takes off her mother so well.
IN
Take something in
To pay attention to, understand something
t was a very good speech and I took it all in.
Take somebody in
Allow someone to stay in your house/country
He had nowhere to go so she took him in.
When it comes to food, ‘take out’ and ‘take away’ both mean the same thing – to buy food from a restaurant and eat it somewhere else. But ‘take away’ is more common in the UK and ‘take out’ more common in the US.
BACK
Takes you back
Allow someone to come back/return
He cheated on her but she finally took him back.
Take someone back
To regain possession of
I took back my jacket from Sarah.
Take something back
Return something to the place you bought it
The dress was too tight so I took it back to the shop.
UP
Take somebody up on something
Say yes to an invitation or offer
I can show you round London if you like. – I’ll take you up on that (offer)!
Something
Spend time doing something regularly (e.g. a hobby)
She took up swimming and started going twice a week
TO
To like something/somebody
Start doing something often
She’s taken to drinking green tea every morning.
It was only the teacher’s first class but the students really took to him.
someone THROUGH something
To explain something to someone
Let me take you through the instructions for the exam.
it UPON oneself
Accept responsibility for something
He took it upon himself to show the guests around.
OVER
Take over from somebody
To start having control of something, in place of somebody else
Susan is taking over from Anna as manager.
Take over from something
To become bigger/more important than something else, take control
Her desire to win took over.
ON
Take somebody on
To fight or compete against someone
Germany will take on Mexico in the first round of the World Cup.
Take something on
Develop an appearance or quality
The room took on a 1970s look.
FOR
To believe something about somebody, often wrongly
You took me for an idiot
DOWN
Take somebody down
To humble or humiliate someone, to lower/reduce in power
The journalist took the politician down with her difficult questions.
Take something down
To write down a piece of information
She took down John’s number so she could call him back.
APART
To criticise something
The reviewers took apart the new film.
Take something apart or separate something into its different parts
He took my phone apart to fix it.
ABACK
To surprise or shock someone (old-fashioned, rare)
His voice was so loud that it took us aback at first
AFTER
To be similar to someone in appearance or character, especially a family member
She’s very funny. She takes after her mother
