take a leaf out of someone's book en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
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(idiomatic) To adopt an idea or practice of another person.
Let every youth take a leaf out of my book and make it a point to account for everything that comes into and goes out of his pocket, and like me he is sure to be a gainer in the end.
1927, M[ohandas] K[aramchand] Gandhi, chapter XVI, in Mahadev Desai, transl., The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Translated from the Original in Gujarati, volume I, Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Navajivan Press, →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| taken a leaf out of someone's book | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| takes a leaf out of someone's book | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| taking a leaf out of someone's book | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| took a leaf out of someone's book | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Synonyms
take a page from someone's book · take a page out of someone's book · borrow a leaf out of someone's book · rip a page out of someone's playbook · take a page out of someone's playbook · rip a page out of someone's book · borrow a page from someone's book
Translations (11)
de eine Scheibe abschneiden (adopt an idea) · pl brać przykład (adopt an idea) · pl wziąć przykład (adopt an idea) · gl seguir o exemplo de (adopt an idea) · es aprender de (adopt an idea) · fi ottaa esimerkkiä (adopt an idea) · fi ottaa mallia (adopt an idea) · es seguir el ejemplo de (adopt an idea) · pt seguir o exemplo de (adopt an idea) · fr prendre exemple (adopt an idea) · fr en prendre de la graine (adopt an idea)