Word.ws English Dictionary

taking it out on

taking it out on is the present participle and gerund of take it out on.

Meaning of take it out on

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic) To unleash one's anger on (a person or thing other than the one that caused it).
    • Don't take it out on your husband if you had trouble with your boss at work.

Questions about taking it out on

What is taking it out on the present participle and gerund of?
Taking it out on is the present participle and gerund of take it out on.

Words near taking it out on in the dictionary

  1. taking it into one's head
  2. taking it on the arches
  3. taking it on the lam
  4. taking it out in
  5. taking it out of
  6. taking it out on
  7. taking it outside
  8. taking it to the next level
  9. taking it up the ass
  10. taking it upon oneself
  11. taking its course

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking it out on (page history and authors); take it out 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.

Last updated:

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