take heed

English

Pronunciation
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Verb

take heed (third-person singular simple present takes heed, present participle taking heed, simple past took heed, past participle taken heed)

  1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To pay attention.
    Synonyms: give heed, pay heed
    The king spoke and the lords took heed.
    • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 14:
      Pro. Then, as my gueſt, and thine owne acquiſition / Worthily purchas'd, take my daughter : But / If thou do'ſt breake her Virgin-knot, before / All ſanctimonious ceremonies may / With full and holy right, be miniſtred, / No ſweet aſperſion ſhall the heauens let fall / To make this contract grow; but barraine hate, / Sower-ey'd diſdaine, and diſcord ſhall beſtrew / The vnion of your bed, with weedes ſo loathly / That you ſhall hate it both : Therefore take heede, / As Hymens Lamps ſhall light you.

Usage notes
  • Used with of, or formerly to, when an object follows.
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