Word.ws English Dictionary

taking the reins

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

Meaning of take the reins

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic) Synonym of take control.
    • a general election campaign focused on whether the pro-military camp should remain in power or pro-democracy opposition groups should take the reins.2023 May 14, Nikkei staff writers, “Thailand election latest: Opposition Move Forward, Pheu Thai coy on coalition”, in Nikkei, archived from the original on 14 May 2023
    Synonyms:
    take control

Questions about taking the reins

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

Words near taking the reins in the dictionary

  1. taking the purple
  2. taking the rap
  3. taking the red eye
  4. taking the red pill
  5. taking the register
  6. taking the reins
  7. taking the ride
  8. taking the roll
  9. taking the rough with the smooth
  10. taking the shadow for the substance
  11. taking the shilling

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking the reins (page history and authors); take the reins (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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