Word.ws English Dictionary

takes a bow

takes a bow is the third-person singular simple present indicative of take a bow.

Meaning of take a bow

Verb

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

  1. To bow (gesture of deference).
  2. (idiomatic) To accept praise, as performers in a theater at the end of their act.
  3. (idiomatic) To end a performance; to leave.
  4. (idiomatic, sarcastic) To take credit or blame for a particular outcome or circumstance.
    • The years we spent together were the worst years of my life. You can take a bow.

Questions about takes a bow

What is takes a bow the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Takes a bow is the third-person singular simple present indicative of take a bow.

Words near takes a bow in the dictionary

  1. takes a bath
  2. takes a bead on
  3. takes a beat
  4. takes a bite
  5. takes a bite out of
  6. takes a bow
  7. takes a break
  8. takes a breath
  9. takes a breather
  10. takes a bullet
  11. takes a chair

Source and license

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