betake

[ bih-teyk ]

/ bɪˈteɪk /

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verb (used with object), be·took

[bih-took], /bɪˈtʊk/, be·tak·en, be·tak·ing.

to cause to go (usually used reflexively): She betook herself to town.

Archaic. to resort or have recourse to.

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should

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Origin of betake

First recorded in 1175–1225, betake is from the Middle English word bitaken.See be-, take

Words nearby betake

betaine, betaine hydrochloride, beta-interferon, beta iron, Beta Israel, betake, taken with, be, beta-lactam, beta-lactamase, beta-lipoprotein, betamethasone

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use betake in a sentence

Now King Harald bade a warlock betake him to Iceland in one or other guise, that he might bring him back tidings of the country.
The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade)|Snorri Sturluson
The danger now was that a Spanish army would seize Madrid, and thither the French army must betake itself.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte|William Milligan Sloane
Let them sink all our sailing vessels, we will betake ourselves to tugs.
The Blot on the Kaiser's 'Scutcheon|Newell Dwight Hillis
So I determined to betake myself to Germany, there to study medicine and, as opportunity offered, other sciences also.
Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography.|Solomon Maimon

Therefore did the conscientious driver of the piety-quill betake himself to some new field.
The Fiend's Delight|Dod Grile

British Dictionary definitions for betake

betake

/ (bɪˈteɪk) /

verb -takes, -taking, -took or -taken (tr)

betake oneself to go; move

archaic to apply (oneself) to

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012