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

Once again, the ‘Bitcoin bug’ took hold of the nation, while companies like NVIDIA experienced monstrous growth as demand for chips reached new heights. —Solo Ceesay, Rolling Stone, 26 Feb. 2025

And in a highly personalistic international system, especially one agitated by undisciplined digital diplomacy, such a dynamic could take hold elsewhere. —Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025

Across the government, chaos and confusion took hold as the deadline approached. —Antonia Hitchens, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2025

Two years later, as Covid-19 pandemic took hold, Dmitriev invested in and promoted Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. —Keir Simmons, NBC News, 19 Feb. 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