take after

British

verb

to resemble in appearance, character, behaviour, etc
to follow as an example

"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

take after Idioms

Follow the example of; also, resemble in appearance, temperament, or character. For example, Bill took after his uncle and began working as a volunteer for the Red Cross. [Mid-1500s]

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:

take after

Although the surgery went well, she said "the part of the finger they reattached sadly didn't take" after eight weeks so may need to be removed if it doesn't fall off by itself.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026

Trump could use part of the speech to outline the next steps the White House will take after the Supreme Court loss.

From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026

The thing is to get your reflexes in shape, because sometimes you have to do take after take and you don’t want to gas out.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2025

OK, sure, but I did a double take after learning that the final production took place in July 2021.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025

“He must take after his father,” said the voice.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023