take to

present singular third person takes to · participle present taking to · past took to · participle past taken to

1. idiomaticTo adapt to; to learn, grasp or master.

   She took to swimming like a fish.

   2 more examples

   Although he had never skated before, he took to it quickly, and soon glided around the ice with ease.

   This new batch was sent to Leicester shed, and the redoubtable enginemen who had made such a reputation for themselves with the ex-G.C.R. Atlantics took to the "B17s" immediately, although, of course, they required quite different driving methods; [...].

   1941 September, O. S. Nock, “The Locomotives of Sir Nigel Gresley: Part V”, in Railway Magazine, page 396

2. idiomaticTo enter; to go into or move towards.

   When I felt sleepy I took to my bed.

   3 more examples

   As the train rushed through, thousands of birds took to the air at once.

   Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night / And wouldn't you love to love her? / Takes to the sky like a bird in flight / And who will be her lover?

   1975, “Rhiannon”, in Stevie Nicks (lyrics), Fleetwood Mac (music), Fleetwood Mac, performed by Fleetwood Mac

   WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets.

   2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18

3. idiomaticTo begin, as a new habit or practice.

   After the third one was rejected, she took to asking the department to check the form before she submitted it.

   2 more examples

   "In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law, / And argued each case with my wife;[…]"

   1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Advice from a Caterpillar”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, [poem “You Are Old, Father William”], page 65

   I made a trip out on the line on Day 7 of public operation, and was delighted to see pretty steady use all along the line, even off-peak. It's clear that Londoners are quickly taking to their new railway.

   2022 July 27, Sir Michael Holden, “In praise of Crossrail 1... and in search of Crossrail 2”, in RAIL, number 962, page 34

4. idiomaticTo be attracted to.

   She met Ned when he was looking anyway. . . . And he took to her, he liked her crooked straightness from the start.

   2002 December 22, Kerry Hardie, “First Chapter: A Winter Marriage”, in New York Times, retrieved 09 Jun 2015