Word.ws English Dictionary

taking the offensive

taking the offensive is the present participle and gerund of take the offensive.

Meaning of take the offensive

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic) To attack instead of defending; to be bold and proactive.
    Synonyms:
    go on the offensive

Questions about taking the offensive

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

Words near taking the offensive in the dictionary

  1. taking the meaning
  2. taking the Michael
  3. taking the mick
  4. taking the mickey
  5. taking the micky
  6. taking the offensive
  7. taking the pee
  8. taking the piss
  9. taking the place of
  10. taking the plunge
  11. taking the point

Source and license

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