take hold

phrase

1

: to grasp, grip, or seize something

took hold and hung on tight

—often used with of

take hold of the railing

… she took hold of his arm with both her hands, and looked up eagerly—oh, with such terrible eagerness!—into his face.

—Anthony Trollope

—often used figuratively

As word of the subpoenas spread … confusion and hysteria took hold of the social set …

—Bob Colacello

I did not want Merlin to retire from the job until I was ready to take hold of it effectively myself …

—Mark Twain

2

: to become effective, established, or popular

The change in the law has not yet taken hold.

… a swath of land that has been spared from lava flows long enough that rich vegetation has had a chance to take hold.

—G. Brad Lewis

… here in central California the French aesthetic has recently taken hold.

—Rebecca Coffey

Examples of take hold in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And once the rupture takes hold, the soldiers—those who have never been run toward—turn and flee. — Abdelrahman Elgendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026

The policy, however, risks a downshift in hiring and an uptick in the unemployment rate, though such fallout typically takes hold after a lag time lasting several months. — Max Zahn, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026

This cycle is taking hold just as Brazilian resources, exports, and investments are becoming more valuable to the rest of the world, which is the moment when the country’s leverage should be growing rather than declining. — Matias Spektor, Foreign Affairs, 2 Oct. 2026

As the industrial age took hold, geometry continued to show force in the colonial infantries abroad and through isomorphic police squadrons that fit neatly into modernizing city blocks patrolled back home. — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for take hold

• copyhold
• decontrolled
• hundredfold
• manifold
• marigold
• oversold
• petioled
• sevenfold
• stranglehold
• subthreshold
• thousandfold
• uncontrolled