take down
Britishverb
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to record in writing
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to dismantle or tear down
to take down an old shed
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to lower or reduce in power, arrogance, etc (esp in the phrase to take down a peg )
adjective
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Bring from a higher position to a lower one, as in After the sale they took down all the signs . [c. 1300]
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Take apart, dismantle, as in They took down the scaffolding . [Mid-1500s]
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Humble or humiliate; see take down a notch .
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Record in writing, as in Please take down all these price quotations . [Early 1700s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
So far they're the only effective weapon to take down Russian ballistic missiles.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
We build everything that day and then we take down that day.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
Allen probably has more in common with Ryan Routh, who famously infiltrated Trump International Golf Course in a harebrained scheme to take down the then–Republican presidential nominee.
From Slate • May 1, 2026
Elon Musk sparred with lawyers for a third day Thursday at his California trial against OpenAI, struggling to explain why his own for-profit AI empire differs from the one he is trying to take down.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
We leave it at the store so they can take down the hem.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.