phrasal verb

• 1take to somethingBegin or fall into the habit of doing something.

  ‘he took to hiding some secret supplies in his desk’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Or take to relatively less harmful habits like drinking, smoking and gambling.’
  • ‘Once the local gossip was out of the way, she took to her usual habit of saying, ‘So what's new?’’
  • ‘Lorenzo Amoruso of Rangers seems to be an amiable sort of fellow so it was sad to read that, during a long injury lay-off, he fell into a depression and took to the drink.’
  • ‘They also took to the habit of calling me Charlie, even though it was no longer necessary.’
  • ‘The latest and most amusing one was discovering two students who took to falling asleep in a lecture.’
  • ‘After an initial treatment elsewhere, he took to drinking again.’
  • ‘Ronnie and I took to drinking in a nationalist shebeen, the Old House.’
  • ‘The funding turned out to be chimerical; Förster panicked and took to drink.’
  • ‘A lot of people took to drink for solace, and drunkenness was often a problem.’
  • ‘To cope with the stress of sudden fame he took to drink, but these days never touches a drop.’

  Synonyms

  make a habit of, resort to, turn to, have recourse to, begin, start

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• 2take to someoneForm a liking for someone.

  ‘Mrs Brady never took to Moran’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The advent of online lotteries had a bad effect on the State lottery, as fortune seekers began to take to the former.’
  • ‘American mobile phone users are beginning to take to SMS, but IM may be the future for wireless messaging in the US.’
  • ‘Children could easily take to the world of 3D excitement offered here.’
  • ‘So they easily take to the exercises, said participant Celine Chen.’
  • ‘Mainly because I think people will take to weblogs very quickly.’
  • ‘Well Susie quickly took to the emo lifestyle, she already had pierced herself fourteen times by the end of the hour.’
  • ‘Annette Salmeen was one of the UCLA athletes who took to the ideas quickly.’
  • ‘Footballers are insular but they took to him very quickly.’
  • ‘Martin seemed to do very well as a valet and Richard took to him easily which I was very happy to here.’
  • ‘He convinces her to go by promising a full congregation for her mission, and Sarah quickly takes to the milk drinks Sky orders for her.’

  Synonyms

  develop a liking for, like, get on with, become friendly with

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  1. 2.1take to somethingDevelop an ability for something, especially quickly or easily.
     ‘I took to pole-vaulting right away’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Mr Wilstrop, 20, whose father often teaches the sport at the school, said the youngsters took to squash very quickly.’
     • ‘What amazes me is how quickly they take to caring for an elderly person who has to be cleaned, dressed and sorted out.’
     • ‘He quickly took to the work and was even initiated into the Guild.’
     • ‘He shifted to left late last July and took to it quickly, improving rapidly in range and instincts.’
     • ‘Aaron and Luke took to it very quickly after that, but Nick and I just couldn't grasp it.’
     • ‘I went through several modules using games to explore mathematics, and they took to the work quickly.’
     • ‘He took to learning sign language quickly and was soon outpacing his mother and aunt.’
     • ‘While some former cricket stars were good at commenting, others took to umpiring but for Kapil there is a greater joy in getting closer to people.’
     • ‘I took to figure skating with enthusiasm and began competing at the age of eight.’
     • ‘Frasier takes to the radio job at KACL with some enthusiasm and enjoys being a local celebrity.’
     Synonyms

     become good at, develop an ability for, develop an aptitude for, be suitable for

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• 3take to somewhereGo to a place to escape danger or an enemy.

  ‘they took to the hills’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Of course there is every chance that voters might literally take to the hills to escape such an election, but to my mind it is a risk worth taking.’
  • ‘Increasingly, Zambia's AIDS orphans attempt to escape their suffering by taking to the street.’
  • ‘Shocked into a speechless stupor, Ibis took to the air to escape the horrible sight on the ground.’
  • ‘To escape, Nancy takes to the road to hitchhike out of the situation.’
  • ‘Most able-bodied men fled, some running to the river on the west side, some taking to the hills to the east.’
  • ‘The contrast with their hosts was enough to leave any Tartan Army foot soldier taking to the hills in fear.’
  • ‘He had to take to the hills and it was from here that he blessed Ireland and all in it with two exceptions, snakes and the Red Bog.’
  • ‘As the lowlands dry up in spring, the nomads take to the hills to spend the summer months.’
  • ‘When the bombs started falling, the family took to an Anderson shelter and a garden shed.’