Word.ws English Dictionary

taking

/ˈteɪkɪŋ/

taking adjective: alluring; attractive. Also the present participle and gerund of take.

Adjective

taking (comparative more taking, superlative most taking)

  1. Alluring; attractive.
    • […] a Proteus-Devil appeared unto him, changing into Shapes, but fixing himself at last into the form of a Fair Woman. Strange, that Satan (so subtil in making his Temptations most taking) should preferre this form […]1655, Thomas Fuller, “The Tenth Century”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI), page 128
    • His speech from the hustings was very original, and therefore very taking.1793, Charles Dibdin, chapter 9, in The Younger Brother, volume 2, London: for the author, page 263
  2. (obsolete) Infectious; contagious.
    • All the stor’d vengeances of heaven fall
      On her ingrateful top! Strike her young bones,
      You taking airs, with lameness!c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • Come not near me,
      For I am yet too taking for your company.1647, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, The False One, act IV, scene 3

Noun

taking (countable and uncountable, plural takings)

  1. The act by which something is taken.
    • At the taking of the stockade he had distinguished himself greatly by the methodical ferocity of his fighting.1900, Joseph Conrad, chapter 27, in Lord Jim, Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood, page 290
    • Second, they argue that giving the original owner a take-back option might lead to an infinite sequence of takings and retakings if the exercise price for the take-back option (i.e., the damages assessed at each round) is set too low.2010, Ian Ayres, Optional Law: The Structure of Legal Entitlements, page 75
  2. (uncountable) A seizure of someone's goods or possessions.
  3. (uncountable) A state of mental distress, resulting in excited or erratic behavior (in the expression in a taking).
    • What a taking was hee in, when your husband askt who was in the basket?1602, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act III, Scene III
    • "[...] at last, he proceeded from staring to touching; he put out his hand and stroked one curl, as gently as if it were a bird. He might have stuck a knife into her neck, she started round in such a taking.
      "'Get away, this moment! How dare you touch me? Why are you stopping there?' she cried, in...1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, vol. 2, ch. 16, p. 321
  4. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, in plural) Cash or money received (by a shop or other business, for example).
    • Fred was concerned because the takings from his sweetshop had fallen again for the third week.
    • Count the shop's takings.
    Synonyms:
    income, receipts

Also used as

taking is also the present participle and gerund of take.

taking meaning in Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi and Odia

taking in Marathi

घेत आहे

taking in Malayalam

എടുക്കുന്നു

taking in Punjabi

ਲੈ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ

taking in Odia

ନେଉଛି, ନେଇଯାଉଛି
More languagesFewer languages
taking in Nepali
लिँदै

Examples of taking in a sentence

  • “Yes, Paris must be a taking place,” said Humphrey.1878, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native, Book 3, Chapter 1:
  • Do you know, I fancy you would be a match for any man when you are in one o’ your takings.”1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter 30, in Far from the Madding Crowd:
  • He’s been in a rare taking since the outriders came in, that I can tell you.”1970, Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave, New York: Fawcett Crest, Book 1, Chapter 2, p. 26:
  • [...] the woman who keeps the greengrocer’s shop was adding up the day’s takings with her hands in red mittens.1929, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in A Room of One’s Own, London: The Hogarth Press, published 1931, page 60:

Synonyms of taking

Antonyms

Forms of taking

Adjective
comparativemore taking
superlativemost taking
Noun
pluraltakings

Origin of taking

By surface analysis, take + -ing.

Words formed from taking

Phrases with taking

188 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with taking

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about taking

What does taking mean?
Taking means alluring; attractive.
What is taking in Marathi?
Taking in Marathi is घेत आहे. See Taking meaning in Marathi.
How do you use taking in a sentence?
“Yes, Paris must be a taking place,” said Humphrey.
What part of speech is taking?
Taking can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce taking?
Taking is pronounced /ˈteɪkɪŋ/.

Words near taking in the dictionary

  1. Takilma
  2. Takilman
  3. takiltu
  4. takin
  5. takin'
  6. taking
  7. taking (something) to
  8. taking a back seat
  9. taking a bath
  10. taking a bead on
  11. taking a beat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking (page history and authors); taking (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); taking (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); taking (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); taking (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); taking (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-taking.ogg.

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