Dictionary

take by storm en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˌteɪk baɪ ˈstɔːɹm/ (US)
• (US) audio
• /ˌteɪk baɪ ˈstɔːm/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Compare English blitzkrieg.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack.
   • "Sir William took the castle by storm,," said Ravenswood, "and, like many a victor, had little reason to congratulate himself on his conquest." 1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume II (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:
   • The soldiers took the castle by storm.
2. (idiomatic, transitive) To seize, overpower, or captivate in a sudden and forceful manner.
   • [A] startling interruption occurred at that moment, which took their whole attention by storm. 1841, Charles Dickens, chapter 71, in Barnaby Rudge:
   • How I looked while these ideas were taking my spirit by storm, I cannot tell. 1847, Charlotte Brontë, chapter 33, in Jane Eyre:
3. (idiomatic, transitive) To rapidly gain great popularity in (a place).
   • This obscure reference ["Blind Tom"] applies to a blind negro musician who took the world by storm in the latter half of the nineteenth century. 1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 1, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC:
   • Beatlemania took England and Europe by storm and proceeded to inundate American teenagers. 1969, Arnold Shaw, The Rock Revolution, page 1:

Forms

Translations (20)

es arrasar (To rapidly gain popularity in a place) · it prendere d'assalto (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · gl conquistar (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · sv ta med storm (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · fi valloittaa (To rapidly gain popularity in a place) · gl conquistar (To rapidly gain popularity in a place) · de im Sturm erobern (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · sv ta med storm (To rapidly gain popularity in a place) · fr prendre d'assaut (To rapidly gain popularity in a place) · de im Sturm erobern (To rapidly gain popularity in a place) · ru брать шту́рмом (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · ru взять шту́рмом (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · pl zawojować (To rapidly gain popularity in a place) · fi valloittaa rynnäköllä (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · fi valloittaa äkkirynnäköllä (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · la expugnō (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · pl zdobywać szturmem (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · pl zawojowywać (To rapidly gain popularity in a place) · pl zdobyć szturmem (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack) · fr prendre d'assaut (To capture by means of a sudden, overwhelming attack)