How to Use take up in a Sentence

take up

verb
  • The soil was so dry that the plant seemed to take up the much-needed water instantly.
  • The oversized piece took up much of the frame of the camera.
    — Mikelle Street, WWD, 9 Feb. 2025
  • And the burr grinder takes up far more counter space in my small kitchen.
    — Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023
  • The school board has not yet set a date to take up the matter.
    — Leslie Postal, orlandosentinel.com, 6 Dec. 2021
  • The case was put on hold as the Supreme Court then took up the matter.
    — Robert Legare, CBS News, 26 Nov. 2024
  • If polyps are found, the colonoscopy may take up to 45 minutes.
    — Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 15 Aug. 2024
  • The beds and the dressers that came with the room took up the majority of their space.
    — Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 25 July 2024
  • That set the stage for the high court to take up the issue on a fast-track basis.
    — David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2022
  • Flaming garbage took up the whole northbound side of the street.
    — Miguel Torres, The Arizona Republic, 10 Sep. 2024
  • There's a lot on the line here—boots take up a lot of space in your closet.
    — Kerry Pieri, Harper's BAZAAR, 17 Aug. 2022
  • But Estrada would wait a year for the Supreme Court to take up her case.
    — Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2022
  • The form is thorough and could take up to an hour to complete.
    — al, 7 Feb. 2022
  • Think of these bulky blazers as a new way to take up space.
    — Steff Yotka, Vogue, 15 Mar. 2022
  • Even she is impressed by the sheer space these things take up!
    — Kinsey Jasnoch, Vulture, 7 Mar. 2025
  • Next come the galleries, which take up the whole southern end of the building.
    — Michael J. Lewis, WSJ, 5 Nov. 2022
  • This has a sharp design that doesn’t take up much space.
    — Chris Hachey, BGR, 30 Nov. 2022
  • The high court is expected to take up the case in March or April.
    — Barnini Chakraborty, Washington Examiner, 15 Jan. 2024
  • The matter was briefly taken up in the House of Commons.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 7 July 2025
  • There are at least three books this fall that take up the call to think about joy and ask us to think with them.
    — Tess Taylor, CNN, 18 Nov. 2022
  • The Supreme Court agreed in October to take up Ames' case.
    — Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 25 Feb. 2025
  • The three-member board could take up the issue as soon as next week.
    — Sharon Coolidge, The Enquirer, 9 Aug. 2022
  • The species can take up to four to five years to mature from the nascent tadpole stage to the adult frog stage, Lundy added.
    — Zoe Sottile, CNN, 24 Sep. 2022
  • The House is expected to take up the measure by week’s end.
    — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 8 Aug. 2022
  • The appeals court agreed last month to take up Trump's appeal.
    — Olivia Rubin, ABC News, 3 June 2024
  • Rickey took up the fans on an offer to go hunt wild boar.
    — Daniel Brown, The Athletic, 2 Feb. 2025
  • Its sleek and slim design won’t take up much space on your kitchen counter.
    — Sarah Yang, Sunset Magazine, 8 Oct. 2024
  • But that can’t quite get The Son past the middling dramatic scenes that take up so much of the movie.
    — K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 19 Jan. 2023
  • This may take up to 40 minutes, depending on the size and ripeness of the banana.
    — Beth Branch, Country Living, 26 May 2022
  • Though neither bill will move forward this year, both can be taken up in 2026, the second year of the current legislative session.
    — Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2025
  • During Passover, there are specialty items that take up almost an entire aisle.
    — Vanessa Romo, NPR, 7 July 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'take up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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