take to

verb

took to; taken to; taking to; takes to

transitive verb

1

: to go to or into (a place)

take to the woods/hills

Thousands of people took to the streets in protest. [=went out into the streets to protest]

He took to the airwaves [=he spoke on the radio] with his message.

2

: to begin doing (something) as a habit or regular practice

take to drink

—usually used with a following present participle

take to drinking/smoking

He's recently taken to staying up late on weekends.

A few of her classmates took to calling her Pipi, after Pippi Longstocking …

—Calvin Tomkins

Recently, he'd taken to wearing tuxedos and suits and had gotten a new car, she said.

—Laura Italiano and Tamar Lapin

3

: to adapt oneself to

They haven't taken well to the new schedule.

4

: to start to have a liking for

I took to her immediately.

He tried skiing and took to it quickly. [=he quickly learned how to ski and liked doing it]

Note: To take to something like a duck (takes) to water is to begin to do it, use it, etc., in a very quick, easy, and natural way.

She took to horseback riding like a duck to water.

Deanna takes to student life like a duck takes to water, doing all the things that we all did …

—Joe Anderton

see also take kindly to

Examples of take to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Increasing charging capacity Boosting India’s charging infrastructure is a vital step that the government needs to take to reach its goal of making electric vehicles widespread by 2030, industry experts told CNBC. —Charmaine Jacob, CNBC, 13 Sep. 2024

The helmet was taken to the State Archaeological Museum’s conservation department, where an expert in iron and bronze artifacts will spend several months conserving its pieces. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Sep. 2024

He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead; he has since been identified by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office as Carlos Rodriguez-Gastelu, 44, of San Jose. —Robert Salonga, The Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2024

Safety Check will now be run automatically, in the background, with additional proactive steps taken to keep Chrome users safe. —Davey Winder, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1