Complete Works of Samuel Johnson

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by Samuel Johnson

43. To leap; to jump over.

  That hand which had the strength, ev’n at your door,

  To cudgel you, and make you take the hatch. Shakesp.

  44. To assume.

  Fit you to the custom,

  And take t’ye as your predecessors have,

  Your honour with your form. Shakesp. Coriolanus.

  I take liberty to say, that these propositions are so far from having an universal assent, that to a great part of mankind they are not known. Locke.

  45. To allow; to admit.

  Take not any term, howsoever authorized by the language of the schools, to stand for any thing till you have an idea of it. Locke.

  Chemists take, in our present controversy, something for granted which they ought to prove. Boyle.

  46. To receive with fondness.

  I lov’d you still, and took your weak excuses,

  Took you into my bosom. Dryden.

  47. To carry out for use.

  He commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff. Mar. vi. 8.

  48. To suppose; to receive in thought; to entertain in opinion.

  This I take it

  Is the main motive of our preparations. Shakespeare.

  The spirits that are in all tangible bodies are scarce known. Sometimes they take them for vacuum, whereas they are the most active of bodies. Bacon’s Nat. Hist.

  The farmer took himself to have deserved as much as any man, in contributing more, and appearing sooner, in their first approach towards rebellion. Clarendon.

  Is a man unfortunate in marriage? Still it is because he was deceived; and so took that for virtue and affection which was nothing but vice in a disguise. South.

  Our depraved appetites cause us often to take that for true imitation of nature which has no resemblance of it. Dryden.

  So soft his tresses, fill’d with trickling pearl,

  You’d doubt his sex, and take him for a girl. Tate.

  Time is taken for so much of infinite duration, as is measured out by the great bodies of the universe. Locke.

  They who would advance in knowledge, should lay down this as a fundamental rule, not to take words for things. Locke.

  Few will take a proposition which amounts to no more than this, that God is pleased with the doings of what he himself commands for an innate moral principle, since it teaches so little. Locke.

  Some tories will take you for a whig, some whigs will take you for a tory. Pope.

  As I take it, the two principal branches of preaching are, to tell the people what is their duty, and then to convince them that it is so. Swift.

  49. To direct.

  Where injur’d Nisus takes his airy course,

  Hence trembling Scylla flies and shuns his foe. Dryden.

  50. To separate for one’s self from any quantity; to remove for one’s self from any place.

  I will take of them for priests. Isa. lxvi. 21.

  Hath God assayed to take a nation from the midst of another. Deut. iv. 34.

  I might have taken her to me to wife. Gen. xii. 19.

  Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Gen. v. 24.

  The Lord took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders.

  Four heifers from his female store he took. Dryden.

  51. Not to leave; not to omit.

  The discourse here is about ideas, which he says are real things, and we see in God: in taking this along with me, to make it prove any thing to his purpose, the argument must stand thus. Locke.

  Young gentlemen ought not only to take along with them a clear idea of the antiquities on medals and figures, but likewise to exercise their arithmetick in reducing the sums of money to those of their own country. Arbuthnot on Coins.

  52. To receive payments.

  Never a wife leads a better life than she does; do what she will, take all, pay all. Shakespeare.

  53. To obtain by mensuration.

  The knight coming to the taylor’s to take measure of his gown, perceiveth the like gown cloth lying there. Camden.

  With a two foot rule in his hand measuring my walls, he took the dimensions of the room. Swift.

  54. To withdraw.

  Honeycomb, on the verge of threescore, took me aside, and asked me whether I would advise him to marry? Spectat.

  55. To seize with a transitory impulse; to affect so as not to last.

  Tiberius, noted for his niggardly temper, only gave his attendants their diet; but once he was taken with a fit of generosity, and divided them into three classes. Arbuthnot.

  56. To comprise; to comprehend.

  We always take the account of a future state into our schemes about the concerns of this world. Atterbury.

  Had those who would persuade us that there are innate principles, not taken them together in gross, but considered separately the parts, they would not have been so forward to believe they were innate. Locke.

  57. To have recourse to.

  A sparrow took a bush just as an eagle made a stoop at an hare. L’Estrange.

  The cat presently takes a tree, and sees the poor fox torn to pieces. L’Estrange.

  58. To produce; or suffer to be produced.

  No purposes whatsoever which are meant for the good of that land will prosper, or take good effect. Spenser.

  59. To catch in the mind.

  These do best who take material hints to be judged by history. Locke.

  60. To hire; to rent.

  If three ladies, like a luckless play,

  Takes the whole house upon the poet’s day. Pope.

  61. To engage in; to be active in.

  Question your royal thoughts, make the case yours;

  Be now the father, and propose a son;

  Behold yourself so by a son disdain’d;

  And then imagine me taking your part,

  And in your pow’r so silencing your son. Shak. Henry IV.

  62. To suffer; to support.

  In streams, my boy, and rivers take thy chance,

  There swims, said he, thy whole inheritance. Addison.

  Now take your turn; and, as a brother shou’d,

  Attend your brother to the Stygian flood. Dryden’s Æn.

  63. To admit in copulation.

  Five hundred asses yearly took the horse,

  Producing mules of greater speed and force. Sandys.

  64. To catch eagerly.

  Drances took the word; who grudg’d, long since,

  The rising glories of the Daunian prince. Dryden.

  65. To use as an oath or expression.

  Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain. Exod.

  66. To seize as a disease.

  They that come abroad after these showers are commonly taken with sickness. Bacon.

  I am taken on the sudden with a swimming in my head. Dryden.

  67. To Take away. To deprive of.

  If any take away from the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life. Rev. xx. 19.

  The bill for taking away the votes of bishops was called a bill for taking away all temporal jurisdiction. Clarendon.

  Many dispersed objects breed confusion, and take away from the picture that grave majesty which gives beauty to the piece. Dryden.

  You should be hunted like a beast of prey,

  By your own law I take your life away. Dryden.

  The fun’ral pomp which to your kings you pay,

  Is all I want, and all you take away. Dryden’s Æn.

  One who gives another any thing, has not always a right to take it away again. Locke.

  Not foes nor fortune takes this pow’r away,

  And is my Abelard less kind than they. Pope.

  68. To Take away. To set aside; to remove.

  If we take away all consciousness of pleasure and pain, it will be hard to know wherein to place personal identity. Locke.

  69. To Take care. To be careful; to be solicitous for; to superintend.

&n
bsp; Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? 1 Cor. ix. 9.

  70. To Take care. To be cautious; to be vigilant.

  71. To Take course. To have recourse to measures.

  They meant to take a course to deal with particulars by reconcilements, and cared not for any head. Bacon.

  The violence of storming is the course which God is forced to take for the destroying, but cannot, without changing the course of nature, for the converting of sinners. Hammond.

  72. To Take down. To crush; to reduce; to suppress.

  Do you think he is now so dangerous an enemy as he is counted, or that it is so hard to take him down as some suppose? Spenser on Ireland.

  Take down their mettle, keep them lean and bare. Dryd.

  Lacqueys were never so saucy and pragmatical as now, and he should be glad to see them taken down. Addison.

  73. To Take down. To swallow; to take by the mouth.

  We cannot take down the lives of living creatures, which some of the Paracelsians say, if they could be taken down, would make us immortal: the next for subtilty of operation, to take bodies putrefied, such as may be easily taken. Bacon.

  74. To Take from. To derogate; to detract.

  It takes not from you, that you were born with principles of generosity; but it adds to you that you have cultivated nature. Dryden.

  75. To Take from. To deprive of.

  Conversation will add to their knowledge, but be too apt to take from their virtue. Locke.

  Gentle gods take my breath from me. Shakespeare.

  I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee. 1 Sam.

  76. To Take heed. To be cautious; to beware.

  Take heed of a mischievous man. Ecclus. xi. 33.

  Take heed lest passion

  Sway thy judgment to do ought. Milton.

  Children to serve their parents int’rest live,

  Take heed what doom against yourself you give. Dryden.

  77. To Take heed to. To attend.

  Nothing sweeter than to take heed unto the commandments of the Lord. Ecclus. xxiii. 27.

  78. To Take in. To comprise; to comprehend.

  These heads are sufficient for the explication of this whole matter; taking in some additional discourses, which make the work more even. Burnet’s Theory of the Earth.

  This love of our country takes in our families, friends, and acquaintance. Addison.

  The disuse of the tucker has enlarged the neck of a fine woman, that at present it takes in almost half the body. Add.

  Of these matters no satisfactory account can be given by any mechanical hypothesis, without taking in the superintendence of the great Creator. Derham’s Physico-Theol.

  79. To Take in. To admit.

  An opinion brought into his head by course, because he heard himself called a father, rather than any kindness that he found in his own heart, made him take us in. Sidney.

  A great vessel full being drawn into bottles, and then the liquor put again into the vessel, will not fill the vessel again so full as it was, but that it may take in more. Bacon.

  Porter was taken in not only as a bed-chamber servant, but as an useful instrument for his skill in the Spanish. Wotton.

  Let fortune empty her whole quiver on me,

  I have a soul, that, like an ample shield,

  Can take in all; and verge enough for more. Dryden.

  The sight and touch take in from the same object different ideas. Locke.

  There is the same irregularity in my plantations: I take in none that do not naturally rejoice in the soil. Spectator.

  80. To Take in. To win.

  He sent Asan-aga with the Janizaries; and pieces of great ordnance, to take in the other cities of Tunis. Knolles.

  Should a great beauty resolve to take me in with the artillery of her eyes, it would be as vain as for a thief to set upon a new robbed passenger. Suckling.

  Open places are easily taken in, and towns not strongly fortified make but a weak resistance. Felton on the Classicks.

  81. To Take in. To receive.

  We went before, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul. Acts xx. 13.

  That which men take in by education is next to that which is natural. Tillotson’s Sermons.

  As no acid is in an animal body but must be taken in by the mouth, so if it is not subdued it may get into the blood. Arbuthnot on Aliments.

  82. To Take in. To receive mentally.

  Though a created understanding can never take in the fulness of the divine excellencies, yet so much as it can receive is of greater value than any other object. Hale.

  The idea of extension joins itself so inseparably with all visible qualities, that it suffers to see no one without taking in impressions of extension too. Locke.

  It is not in the power of the most enlarged understanding to frame one new simple idea in the mind, not taken in by the ways afore-mentioned. Locke.

  A man can never have taken in his full measure of knowledge before he is hurried off the stage. Addison’s Spect.

  Let him take in the instructions you give him in a way suited to his natural inclination. Watts.

  Some bright genius can take in a long train of propositions. Watts.

  83. To Take oath. To swear.

  The king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken of the king’s seed, and of him taken an oath. Ezek.

  We take all oath of secrecy, for the concealing of those inventions which we think fit to keep secret. Bacon.

  84. To Take off. To invalidate; to destroy; to remove.

  You must forsake this room and go with us;

  Your power and your command is taken off,

  And Cassio rules in Cyprus. Shakespeare’s Othello.

  The cruel ministers

  Took off her life. Shakespeare.

  If the heads of the tribes can be taken off, and the missed multitude return to their obedience, such an extent of mercy is honourable. Bacon’s Advice to Villiers.

  Sena loseth its windiness by decocting; and subtile or windy spirits are taken off by incension or evaporation. Bacon.

  To shop schisms, take off the principal authors by winning and advancing them, rather than enrage them by violence. Bac.

  What taketh off the objection is, that in judging scandal we are to look to the cause whence it cometh. Bishop Sanderson.

  The promises, the terrors, or the authority of the commander, must be the topick whence that argument is drawn; and all force of these is taken off by this doctrine. Hammond.

  It will not be unwelcome to these worthies, who endeavour the advancement of learning, as being likely to find a clear progression when so many untruths are taken off. Brown.

  This takes not off the force of our former evidence. Still.

  If the mark, by hindering its exportation, makes it less valuable, the melting pot can easily take it off. Locke.

  A man’s understanding failing him, would take off that presumption most men have of themselves. Locke.

  It shews virtue in the fairest light, and takes off from the deformity of vice. Addison.

  When we would take off from the reputation of an action, we ascribe it to vain glory. Addison.

  This takes off from the elegance of our tongue, but expresses our ideas in the readiest manner. Addison.

  The justices decreed, to take off a halfpeny in a quart from the price of ale. Swift’s Miscel.

  How many lives have been lost in hot blood, and how many likely to be taken off in cold. Blount to Pope.

  Favourable names are put upon ill ideas, to take off the odium. Watts.

  85. To Take off. To with-hold; to withdraw.

  He perceiving that we were willing to say somewhat, in great courtesy took us off, and condescended to ask us questions. Bacon.

  Your present distemper is not so troublesome, as to take you off from all satisfaction. Wake.

  There is nothing more resty and ungovernable than our thoughts: they will not be directed
what objects to pursue, nor be taken off from those they have once fixed on; but run away with a man in pursuit of those ideas they have in view, let him do what he can. Locke.

  Keep foreign ideas from taking off our minds from its present pursuit. Locke.

  86. To Take off. To swallow.

  Were the pleasure of drinking accompanied, the moment a man takes off his glass, with that sick stomach which, in some men, follows not many hours after, nobody would ever let wine touch his lips. Locke.

  87. To Take off. To purchase.

  Corn, in plenty, the labourer will have at his own rate, else he’ll not take it off the farmer’s hands for wages. Locke.

  The Spaniards having no commodities that we will take off, above the value of one hundred thousand pounds per annum, cannot pay us. Locke.

  There is a project on foot for transporting our best wheaten straw to Dunstable, and obliging us to take off yearly so many ton of straw hats. Swift’s Miscel.

  88. To Take off. To copy.

  Take off all their models in wood. Addison.

  89. To Take off. To find place for.

  The multiplying of nobility brings a state to necessity; and, in like manner, when more are bred scholars than preferments can take off. Bacon’s Essays.

  90. To Take off. To remove.

  When Moses went in, he took the vail off until he came out. Exod. xxxiv. 34.

  If any would reign and take up all the time, let him take them off and bring others on. Bacon.

  He has taken you off, by a peculiar instance of his mercy, from the vanities and temptations of the world. Wake.

  91. To Take order with. To check; to take course with.

  Though he would have turned his teeth upon Spain, yet he was taken order with before it came to that. Bacon.

  92. To Take out. To remove from within any place.

  Griefs are green;

  And all thy friends which thou must make thy friends

  Have but their stings and teeth newly ta’en out. Shakesp.

  93. To Take part. To share.

  Take part in rejoicing for the victory over the Turks. Pope.

  94. To Take place. To prevail; to have effect.

  Where arms take place, all other pleas are vain;

  Love taught me force, and force shall love maintain. Dry.

  The debt a man owes his father takes place, and gives the father a right to inherit. Locke.

  95. To Take up. To borrow upon credit or interest.

  The smooth pates now wear nothing but high shoes; and if a man is through with them in honest taking up, they stand upon security. Shakespeare.

 

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