take on

Verb

take on (third-person singular simple present takes on, present participle taking on, simple past took on, past participle taken on)

1. To acquire, bring in, or introduce.
   • The ship took on cargo in Norfolk yesterday.
   • The first of 14 Class 68s to be taken on by Chiltern Railways (68020) has been reliveried in the company's new dark blue livery.2025 October 1, “News in brief: '68' gains new livery”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 13
   1. To obtain the services of (a person) in exchange for remuneration; to give someone a job.
      • Taking on a first employee should be done with care and consideration.
2. (idiomatic) To begin to have or exhibit.
   • In the dark, the teddy bear took on the appearance of a fearsome monster.
3. (idiomatic) To assume or take responsibility for.
   • I'll take on the project if no one else will.
   • He took on the children's welfare as an extra charge.
   1. (UK, idiomatic) To accept (feedback).
      • Thanks for your comments, I'll take them on.
4. (idiomatic) To attempt to fight, compete with, or engage with.
   • I don't recommend taking on that bully, since he's bigger than you are.
   • “I’ll bet, despite the fact that the Tenhausens picked you as a soul-mate for June Atterman, that if Beth Hillyer took of[f] her clothes and shook herself at you, you’d point right in the air and be ready to take her on.”1990, Robert H. Rimmer, The Harrad Experiment, Prometheus Books, page 93
5. To (attempt to) dribble round (an opposition player).
   • He drifted past four Palace players and took on two more before crossing to the far post, where Fellaini touched on for Mata to score. It was a momentum-shifting moment.2016 May 22, Phil McNulty, “Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United”, in BBC
6. (colloquial, intransitive) To catch on, do well; to become popular.
   • He had enough money to stock it well, and it took on; but the side of the business he did best on was his travelling shop.1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 225
7. (idiomatic, intransitive) To grieve or be concerned (about something or someone).
   • But I am one of those that never take on about princely fortunes, and am quite content if the world is ready to board and lodge me, while I am putting up at this grim sign of the Thunder Cloud.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 16”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
   • So she hung crying, lopsided and ludicrous on the seat of the buggy […]. People passing looked at her and wondered why she was taking on. There was something almost obscene about a strong, healthy woman blubbering in the sunlight in that public place.1955, Patrick White, chapter 13, in The Tree of Man, New York: Viking, pages 198–199
8. (UK, intransitive) To enlist into military service.