Link Centre Dictionary

uptake

up·take

UK/ʌpˈteɪk/ US/ˈʌˌpteɪk/ rare archaic dated

noun

1.

the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating)

2.

a process of taking up or using up or consuming

  • “they developed paper napkins with a greater uptake of liquids”

Origin

From Middle English uptaken (“to take up, lift”), partial calque of earlier Middle English upnimen (“to take up, lift”), equivalent to up- + take. Compare Swedish upptaga, uppta (“to take up”).

Phrases

  • on the uptake
  • quick on the uptake
  • slow on the uptake

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.