Definition of UPTAKE

uptake

Plural: uptakes

Noun

  • The act of taking up, or a ventilating shaft.
  • the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating)
  • a process of taking up or using up or consuming
    • "they developed paper napkins with a greater uptake of liquids"
  • Understanding; comprehension.
  • Absorption, especially of food or nutrient by an organism.
  • The act of lifting or taking up.
  • A chimney.
  • The upcast pipe from the smokebox of a steam boiler towards the chimney.

Verb

  • To take up, to lift.
  • To absorb, as food or a drug by an organism.
  • To accept and begin to use, as a new practice.

Examples

  • His quick uptake of complex Scrabble rules gave him an edge.

Origin / Etymology

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”).

Scrabble Score: 12

uptake: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
uptake: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
uptake: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

uptake: valid Words With Friends Word