take turns

phrase

variants also British take it in turns

: to do something one after another in regular succession in order to share the responsibility or opportunity of doing it : alternate

We take turns washing the dishes.

Almost immediately, Rick and Diane begin videotaping their classroom lessons, letting their students take turns with the cameras.

—Ann Bradley

Several youths were around the phone, taking it in turns to gossip and joke with the operator.

—Christopher Isherwood

Examples of take turns in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Titus sisters both work at Black & Veatch and Mantooth works full time at 3 of Cups and the three take turns on weekends. — Kansas City Star, 10 Oct. 2026

The demonstrators ended up on the steps of the Lincoln Park Zoo’s administrative office, where students took turns at a megaphone. — Kate Perez, Chicago Tribune, 9 Oct. 2026

The agreement replaces the arrangement under which ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC took turns airing television’s biggest awards show. — Liam Reilly, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026

On Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, before a panel of judges and a crowd of hundreds, 14 residents took turns angling into tight spaces in the city’s first parallel parking championship. — New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for take turns

• holofernes
• overturns
• subalterns
• adjourns
• concerns
• discerns
• downturns
• internes
• nocturnes
• returns
• sideburns
• churns