take up a collection

1. Request and gather donations, as in They were taking up a collection for the church that burned down, or The veterans' group takes up a collection every month of household goods and furniture. This idiom was first recorded in 1849.

Example Sentences

I made a comment when I was in pretty good position on the leaderboard that maybe all the guys on tour should take up a collection and offer to send him to grad school or something.

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No one needs to take up a collection for players who advance deep into tournaments, but the economics of being a solid professional tennis player can be challenging.

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Take up a collection with neighbors of all that stuff we’ve hoarded and donate it to a soup kitchen or food pantry.

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He complained about not being able to take up a collection after his prayer at the Obama inauguration, and he once said he wished that Dr. King’s birthday was in a warmer month than January, since he always seemed to be invited to speak in cold weather.

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“A bay mate was killed in a plane crash and the rest of us had to take up a collection to get her body back home to Portland because they wouldn’t pay for it.”

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