take something outtv. to bomb or destroy
something. The enemy took out one of
the tanks, but not the one carrying the
medicine. The last f light took out two
enemy bunkers and a radar installation.
take something public 1. tv. to make
something known to the public. Yo u
gotta take it public—put it on the street—
even when it’s none of your business.
Don’t take it public. You’ll just get talked
about. 2. tv. to sell shares in a company
to the general public. (Securities mar-
kets.) The board decided not to take the
company public. We’re going to take it
public whenever the market looks good.
takes two to tangophr. requires two peo-
ple to do certain things. No, he didn’t
do it all by himself. Takes two to tango, you
know. There’s no such thing as a one-
sided argument. It takes two to tango.
take the curetv. to enter into any treat-
ment program or treatment center. (Es-
pecially those dealing with drugs and al-
cohol.) I wanted to take the cure, but I
just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It’s
hard to get them to realize that they are the
ones who have to decide to take the cure.
take the falltv. to get arrested for a par-
ticular crime. (Especially when others are
going unpunished for the same crime.
See also take a fall.) Ziggy and Tony
pulled the job off together, but Tony took
the fall. You did it, and I won’t take the
fall!
take the fifth 1. and five ittv. to refuse
to testify to a U.S. legislative committee
under the protection of the Fifth Amend-
ment to the U.S. Constitution. His
lawyer told him to take the fifth. The
lawyer just sat there and said, “Five it.” af-
ter every question. 2. tv. to decline to an-
swer any questions. I’ll take the fifth on
that one. Ask Fred. Don’t ask me. I take
the fifth.
take the gas pipeGo to take the pipe.
take the heat and take some heattv. to
receive criticism (for something). The
cops have been taking some heat about the
Quincy killing. If you can’t take the
heat, stay out of the kitchen.
take the heat off someonetv. to relieve
the pressure on someone; to free some-
one from suspicion, responsibility, a
deadline, etc. The confession by Rocko
took the heat off the cop-shop for a while.
They took the heat off us by moving the
deadline.
take the (long) counttv. to die. The
poor cat took the long count at last. I’m
too young to take the count.
take the pipe 1. and take the gas pipe
tv. to commit suicide. (Originally by in-
haling gas.) The kid was dropping
everything in sight and finally took the
pipe. Some poor old guy took the gas
pipe and nearly blew the place up. 2. tv.
to fail to perform under pressure; to cave
in. (From sense 1.) He tends to take the
pipe when the going gets rough. Don’t
take the pipe, man. Stick in there!
take the piss out of someonetv. to hum-
ble someone; to make someone—usually
a male—less cocky, perhaps by violence.
(Usually objectionable.) You need
somebody to take the piss outa you! He
failed his test again. That’ll take the piss
outa him.
take the pledgetv. to promise to abstain
from beverage alcohol. I’m not ready
to take the pledge yet, but I will cut down.
My aunt tried to get me to take the
pledge.
take the plungetv. to marry someone.
I’m not ready to take the plunge yet.
Sam and Mary took the plunge.
take the rap (for something)tv. to take
the blame for something. (Originally un-
derworld. See also rap.) I didn’t want
to take the rap for the job, but, after all, I
was guilty. I threw the rock, but John
took the rap.
take the spear (in one’s chest)tv. to ac-
cept full blame for something; to accept
the full brunt of the punishment for
something. The Admiral got the short
straw and had to take the spear in his
chest. I sure didn’t want to take the
spear.
take the starch out of someonetv. to re-
duce someone’s self-assurance; to reducetake something out