To 'take' a phone call = to answer a phone call

If we speak of "taking" a phone call, it's generally in a situation where someone else -- such as a secretary or assistant -- has already ... Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanish French Italian Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. To'take'aphonecall=toansweraphonecall Threadstarter HajiSahib Startdate Jul27,2018 HajiSahib Banned Punjabi/Urdu-Pakistan Haji:YesterdaynightIcalledyoubutyoudidn'ttake(answer)mycall.Wherewereyouthen? Boota:Icouldn'ttake(answer)yourcallbecauseIwasout,andmycellphonewasinmybedroom. Is"takethecall"meaninganswerthecallcorrect? Thanks   PaulQ SeniorMember UK English-England Totakeissimilarto"toaccept." Inyourcontext, Haji:YesterdaynightIcalledyoubutyoudidn'ttake(answer)mycall.Wherewereyouthen?Thisdoesnotworkbecause,bysayingthis,youhaveassumedthatthecallwasrefusedwhen,infact,youwanttoknowwhyitwasnotanswered. Boota:Icouldn'ttake(answer)yourcallbecauseIwasout,andmycellphonewasinmybedroom. However,theuseof"take"inthissenseisratherformal,andIwouldavoidit.   B Barque Banned Tamil Itsoundsallrightinthequestion,wherethepersonaskingdoesn'tknowifthepersondeliberatelydidn'tanswerorwhetherhedidn'trealisethephonewasringing. Butintheanswer.,"answer"wouldbebetter."Icouldn'ttakethecall"suggeststhepersonknewhisphonewasringingbutitwasn'tconvenientforhimtoanswerit. Cross-answered.   HajiSahib Banned Punjabi/Urdu-Pakistan Barquesaid: Itsoundsallrightinthequestion,wherethepersonaskingdoesn'tknowifthepersondeliberatelydidn'tanswerorwhetherhedidn'trealisethephonewasringing. Butintheanswer.,"answer"wouldbebetter."Icouldn'ttakethecall"suggeststhepersonknewhisphonewasringingbutitwasn'tconvenientforhimtoanswerit. Cross-answered. Clicktoexpand... What'sthedifferencebetween"taking"aphonecalland"answering"aphonecall?Pleasetellme.   Myridon SeniorMember Texas English-US Onescenariowheretheyaredifferent:Thephonerings.Susananswersthecall.ThecalleraskforJohn.Johncan'tcometothephonebecausehe'sinthebathtub.Johndoesn'ttakethecall.   HajiSahib Banned Punjabi/Urdu-Pakistan Myridonsaid: Onescenariowheretheyaredifferent:Thephonerings.Susananswersthecall.ThecalleraskforJohn.Johncan'tcometothephonebecausehe'sinthebathtub.Johndoesn'ttakethecall. Clicktoexpand... Herewhatpointyou'retryingtoconvey?Canyougivethedefinitionsoftakingandansweringaphonecallplease?   Florentia52 Modwomanintheattic Wisconsin English-UnitedStates Normally,ifyourphonerings,youanswerit."Answer"isthewordweusetodescribepickingupthephoneandlistening/speakingtothepersonontheotherend. Ifwespeakof"taking"aphonecall,it'sgenerallyinasituationwheresomeoneelse--suchasasecretaryorassistant--hasalreadyansweredthephone,andthepersonwhothecallisfordecideswhetherornottoaccept(take)thecall.Thisisthepointothershahaveveabeentryingtoexplaintoyouhere. Ifyouhavefurtherquestions,pleaseexplainwhatitisyoudonotunderstand.   Packard SeniorMember USA,English Forsomereason(Icouldnotfindtheoriginofeitheroption),we"takecalls"andwe"placecalls". Ifindnodifferenceinmeaningfortheseoppositephrases: Takeacall=answeracall Placeacall=makeacall   Lastedited:Jul27,2018 sdgraham SeniorMember Oregon,USA USAEnglish There'sagoodexistingdiscussionhere: aphonecallthatIdidnottake   PaulQ SeniorMember UK English-England sdgrahamsaid: There'sagoodexistingdiscussionhere: aphonecallthatIdidnottake Clicktoexpand... Themostusefulpostis: Barquesaid: Forwhatit'sworth,"takeacall"iswidelyusedinIndianEnglishtomean"answeracall".Ithink"takeacall"usedtobeusedinBE;Idon'tknowifitstillis. Clicktoexpand... ItseemsthattheOPisusedtosaying"take"butIndianEnglishuses"take"farmorewidelythanAE/BE.   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top