take down

phrasal verb·4 senses·particle down

Meanings

1

Remove something from a higher position

Downward

Why “down”? Movement goes from high to low.

“Take down the Christmas decorations.”
Remove the Christmas decorations from where they're hung.
“Workers took down the old sign.”
Workers removed the old sign from where it was hung.
“Could you take down those boxes from the top shelf?”
Could you bring those boxes down from the top shelf?
2

Write notes quickly

Writing

Why “down”? Words go down onto the page. Written words are kept.

“She took down his phone number.”
She wrote down his phone number.
“I took down the address in my notebook.”
I wrote the address in my notebook.
“Let me take down the address before I forget.”
Let me write down the address before I forget it.
3

Defeat or bring down

Losingrare

Why “down”? A structure, a system, or someone's mood can go down when it fails.

“The police took down the criminal operation.”
The police found and stopped the criminal operation.
“The champions took down the top seed.”
The champions defeated the top seed.
“A small team took down a much larger force.”
A small team defeated a much larger force.
4

Defeat or remove from operation

Losinguncommon
“Police took down the criminal network.”
Police found and stopped the criminal network.
“Engineers took down the unsafe website.”
Engineers shut down the unsafe website.

Don't confuse with

take downtake up

Take down means remove something from a higher position. Take up means start a new hobby or activity.

take downtake out

Take down means remove something from a higher position. Take out means remove something from inside.

take downtake off

Take down means remove something from a higher position. Take off means remove clothing or accessories.

Test yourself

“Take down the Christmas decorations.” What does it mean?

Nearby in the meaning map

Sink In connects verbs by particle pattern, contrast pairs, and shared base verbs.

take off

A contrast learners often mix up

Remove clothing or accessories; Leave the ground (airplane); Become suddenly successful

take out

A contrast learners often mix up

Remove something from inside; Invite someone to go somewhere socially; Borrow from a library; Remove from inside

take up

A contrast learners often mix up

Start a new hobby or activity; Occupy space or time; Accept an offered opportunity; Resume something after a pause or interruption; Shorten a piece of clothing by adjusting its hem

back down

Same down pattern: losing

Withdraw from a position

bear down

Same down pattern: downward

Move quickly and threateningly toward someone

beat down

Same down pattern: downward

(of sun or rain) fall strongly and steadily

bend down

Same down pattern: downward

Lean the upper body downward

blow down

Same down pattern: downward

Cause something to fall by blowing

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