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.
If tech bros are saying that AI might someday break containment and take down civilization, that sounds like an accountability sink coupled with an investor pitch.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
Pollard said the government had "already taken steps" to tell social media companies to take down such content.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
But there are huge technological challenges in building a high speed missile to take down another missile travelling at thousands of miles per hour.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Until now, recording proceedings was prohibited in most California superior court cases, requiring a licensed reporter to be present in order take down each word that was spoken for the official record.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
All the police could do was take down their names.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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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.