Dictionary

take over en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

1. To assume control of something, such as a business or enterprise, and sometimes by force.
   • In Rio de Janeiro, thousands protested in a gritty area far from the city’s upscale seaside districts. In other cities, demonstrators blocked roads, barged into City Council meetings or interrupted sessions of local lawmakers, clapping loudly and sometimes taking over the microphone. 2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Jun 2013:
   • I was also interested to hear that he is taking over the time-honoured Rail Atlas of Great Britain & Ireland, following Stuart Baker's death in November 2020. 2022 February 23, Barry Doe, “Liverpool & Manchester Atlas is excellent value”, in RAIL, number 951, page 61:
   • Pilton Yard, the Lynton & Barnstaple headquarters, has been taken over by a fur trading firm, and would-be trespassers to the old engine-shed are turned back by the pungent odour of heaps of carcases. 1951 February, “Notes and News: Lynton & Barnstaple Remains”, in Railway Magazine, page 136:
2. To adopt a further responsibility or duty.
   • He will take over the job permanently when the accountant retires.
3. To relieve someone temporarily.
   • My husband is taking over the accounts department during the holiday period, while the chief accountant is away.
   • McCoist unexpectedly ushered back a defender of his own with Kirk Broadfoot taking over from Steven Whittaker. There was, of course, another change, Kyle Bartley stepping in at centre-half to replace suspended Dorin Goian. 2011 December 29, Keith Jackson, “Celtic 1 Rangers 0”, in Daily Record^([SPL:]):
   • If you will take over driving, I'd like to get some sleep.
4. To buy out the ownership of a business.
   • Acme Motors is to take Jetcar Industries over this week, if all goes as planned.
   • Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:
5. To appropriate something without permission.
6. To annex a territory by conquest or invasion; to conquer.
   • Ancient Rome took over lands throughout the known world.
   • Founded about 1000 bc by Aeolian Greeks, the city [Assos] was successively ruled by Lydians, Persians, Pergamenes, Romans, and Byzantines, until Sultan Orhan Gazi (1288–1360) took it over for the Ottomans in 1330. 1993, “The Aegean Coast”, in Karen Cure, editor, Fodor’s Turkey […], New York, N.Y.; Toronto, Ont.: Fodor’s Travel Publications, →ISBN, page 104:
7. (intransitive, transitive) To become more successful than (someone or something else).
   • Buzz Lightyear has taken over Woody as the most popular children's toy.
   • Tiger Woods has taken over as the top golfer.
8. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take, over.
   • He took the car over to the garage.

Forms

Deriveds

the lunatics have taken over the asylum

Relateds

takeover · Not to be confused with overtake

Synonyms

surpass (to become more successful than) · overtake (to become more successful than) · commandeer (to assume control, sometimes by force)

Translations (61)

nb kjøpe ut (to buy out) · pt apoderar-se de (to assume control) · fi tulla joksikin (to become more successful than someone or something else) · af oorneem (to assume control) · nb ta over (to annex a territory) · ca apoderar (to assume control) · sk zmocniť sa (to appropriate without permission) · it prendere il posto (to become more successful than someone or something else) · it acquisire (to buy out) · pt assumir (to adopt a further responsibility) · es enseñorearse (to assume control) · ckb گرتنەدەس (to assume control) · fi vallata (to appropriate without permission) · it annettere (to annex a territory) · fr reprendre (to assume control) · nb overta (to become more successful than someone or something else) · sk prevziať (to relieve someone temporarily) · fi ottaa haltuunsa (to assume control) · cmn 接管 (to assume control) · es adueñarse (to assume control) · de übernehmen (to adopt a further responsibility) · sk vystriedať (to become more successful than someone or something else) · ru взять на себя́ (to assume control) · ru приобрести (to buy out) · nl overnemen (to assume control) · ru аннексировать (to annex a territory) · es apoderarse (to assume control) · cmn 佔領 /占领 (to assume control) · gl asumir (to adopt a further responsibility) · fi vallata (to annex a territory) · fi toimia sijaisena (to relieve someone temporarily) · it incaricare (to relieve someone temporarily) · pt assumir controle de (to assume control) · nb overta (to relieve someone temporarily) · nb overta (to buy out) · sk predstihnúť (to become more successful than someone or something else) · fi valloittaa (to annex a territory) · ru брать на себя́ (to assume control) · nb annektere (to annex a territory) · ru захватить (to annex a territory) · fr remplacer (to relieve someone temporarily) · sk ovládnuť (to annex a territory) · sk ovládnuť (to assume control) · fr assumer (to adopt a further responsibility) · ca assumir (to adopt a further responsibility) · fi ottaa haltuunsa (to adopt a further responsibility) · sk zmocniť sa (to assume control) · nb overta (to assume control) · de übernehmen (to assume control) · fi ostaa (to buy out) · ja 引き受ける (to assume control) · cmn 接手 (to assume control) · pt tomar posse de (to assume control) · it appropriarsi (to appropriate without permission) · it usurpare (to assume control) · it assumere (to adopt a further responsibility) · sk prevziať (to buy out) · it impossessarsi (to annex a territory) · nb overta (to adopt a further responsibility) · is taka við (to assume control) · sk prevziať (to adopt a further responsibility)