Word.ws English Dictionary

taking a number

taking a number is the present participle and gerund of take a number.

Meaning of take a number

Verb

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

  1. (literally) To queue; to wait to be served by being assigned a number and waiting for that number to be called after all previous numbers have been served in order of assignment.
  2. (figuratively) To recognize that many others are in the same situation; to recognize that one's concerns are not of high priority; to be prepared to wait.
    • Wanna buy a television network? Take a number. A few years ago you would have had the field to yourself.1994 September 12, Stryker McGuire et al., “Sale Of The Century?”, in Newsweek

Questions about taking a number

What is taking a number the present participle and gerund of?
Taking a number is the present participle and gerund of take a number.

Words near taking a number in the dictionary

  1. taking a load off
  2. taking a long walk off a short pier
  3. taking a long walk on a short pier
  4. taking a look
  5. taking a nap
  6. taking a number
  7. taking a page out of someone's book
  8. taking a page out of someone's playbook
  9. taking a pew
  10. taking a picture
  11. taking a pill

Source and license

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