intake
Americannoun
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intakes
plural
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the place or opening at which a fluid is taken into a channel, pipe, etc.
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an act or instance of taking in.
an intake of oxygen.
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something that is taken in.
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a quantity taken in.
an intake of 50 gallons a minute.
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a narrowing; contraction.
noun
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a thing or a quantity taken in
an intake of students
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the act of taking in
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the opening through which fluid enters a duct or channel, esp the air inlet of a jet engine
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a ventilation shaft in a mine
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a contraction or narrowing
an intake in a garment
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of intake
First recorded in 1515–25; noun use of verb phrase take in
Explanation
The act of consuming food can be called intake. A veterinarian might advise you to limit your dog's intake of pizza crusts, for example. While the process of eating can be called your intake, unless you're a militant dieter who weighs every ounce of food you consume, you're most likely to hear the word intake in a hospital or doctor's office. Caregivers might be concerned about a patient's intake of calories if he's very sick, or a dietitian might recommend an elderly woman increase her intake of calcium.
Vocabulary lists containing intake
"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 2
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Articles on Nutrition
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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.
See Examples For:
The jet-pump intake can become clogged with grass, trash and sand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
If brain fog and anxiety are concerns, simply regulating nutritional intake can solve for that, no matter what your cortisol tests say.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
The Uefa Pro Licence, external - the qualification needed to coach at the highest level of English football - costs £14,000, and there are only 24 places per intake.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
The bank expects this high order intake to be delivered between the third and fourth quarter of the year, supporting strong earnings momentum into year end.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Oh, to own such a glorious property! she thought with an intake of breath.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
At accounting firm Grant Thornton, just 10% of U.K. trainee intakes were apprentices in 2010.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
"Current legume consumption across Europe and the UK remains below dietary recommendations, with average intakes of only 8-15 g/day, far below the recommendations of 65 to 100 g/day recommended for overall cardiovascular health," they added.
From Science Daily ● May 26, 2026
People who had higher intakes of beta-carotene as a food coloring had a 44% increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, compared with those who had a lower intake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
In the first two months of this year, 284 dogs were euthanized at city shelters, a 39% increase compared with January and February 2025 despite a 6% decrease in dog intakes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
I taped up eight of the intakes, leaving only one of them active.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
