Word.ws English Dictionary

taken on

taken on is the past participle of take on.

Meaning of 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.
    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.
    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.

See all 10 meanings of take on

Questions about taken on

What is taken on the past participle of?
Taken on is the past participle of take on.

Words near taken on in the dictionary

  1. taken off
  2. taken off one's chest
  3. taken off one's gloves
  4. taken offense
  5. taken office
  6. taken on
  7. taken on faith
  8. taken on strength
  9. taken on the chin
  10. taken on trust
  11. taken on water

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taken on (page history and authors); take on (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: “taken on.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taken_on. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.