Word.ws English Dictionary

on the take

on the take prepositional phrase: corrupt; receiving bribes or other improper payments.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (informal) Corrupt; receiving bribes or other improper payments.
    • Recently after Washington officials were in Detroit, our chief told us they were sore because so many motor boats broke down and said some of the boys must be ‘on the take’ [accepting bribes].1929 July 1, “National Affairs: War on Two Fronts”, in Time
    • The investigation uncovered an agency overrun by greed, a crooked culture where bribes routinely doubled the $30,000 salaries of those on the take.1997 April 24, Greg B. Smith, “Sting to Shaft Lift Inspectors”, in New York Daily News

on the take meaning in Tamil

on the take in Tamil

ஏறுமுகமாயிருத்தல்

Examples of on the take in a sentence

  • It was rumoured that he was on the take.1998, Guy Ritchie, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, spoken by Bacon (Jason Statham):
  • About 10 per cent of the force are assumed to be on the take.2003 August 11, “Sex, bribes and publicity”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 17 Nov 2009:

Questions about on the take

What does on the take mean?
On the take means corrupt; receiving bribes or other improper payments.
What is on the take in Tamil?
On the take in Tamil is ஏறுமுகமாயிருத்தல். See On the take meaning in Tamil.
How do you use on the take in a sentence?
It was rumoured that he was on the take.
What part of speech is on the take?
On the take is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on the take in the dictionary

  1. on the stroke of
  2. on the stump
  3. on the surface
  4. on the table
  5. on the tack
  6. on the take
  7. on the tap
  8. on the tapis
  9. on the telephone
  10. on the tenterhooks
  11. on the tenters

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on the take (page history and authors); on the take (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “on the take.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_the_take. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.