take the floor

Idioms  

1. Rise to speak formally to an assembled group, as in After that long introduction, the treasurer took the floor. This idiom uses floor in the sense of “right to speak,” in turn derived from its meaning as the part of the legislature from which members address the group. [c. 1800]

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Example Sentences

He told me to stand in place and watch as he took out all of the cleaning products and, along with cleaning the toilets and sinks, he proceeded to mop the floor.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

I mop the floor with a solution of soapy water.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 26, 2022

If you wipe down your counters, mop the floor, and fold everything, by the time you are finished, you have worked out if not the problem the human reaction.

From Salon • Nov. 19, 2021

He’d fry the plantains, he’d mop the floor, “though I would have to do it again after him,” she said, laughing.

From Washington Times • Dec. 29, 2019

Even though he doesn’t mop the floor right when he closes, he still gets the same money I do, and I mop right.

From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King

Related Words

• call
• discuss
• talk