Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
take heed. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
take heed, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
take heed in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
take heed you have here. The definition of the word
take heed will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
take heed, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Pronunciation
Verb
take heed (third-person singular simple present takes heed, present participle taking heed, simple past took heed, past participle taken heed)
- (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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 14, column 1: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.
1854, Dante [Alighieri], “Canto XXIX”, in C[harles] B[agot] Cayley, transl., Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Paradise: Translated in the Original Ternary Rhyme, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 217, lines 82–84:So there men dream awake, some taking heed, / And others not, how much untruth they tell; / Yet have the first more shame and more misdeed.
1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “Abdullah bin Fazil and his Brothers. ”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night , Shammar edition, volume IX, : Burton Club , →OCLC, page 342:None, however, took heed to his brothers; wherefore jealousy and envy entered their hearts, for all he entreated them tenderly as one tenders an ophthalmic eye; but the more he cherished them, the more they redoubled in hatred and envy of him: […]
Usage notes
- Used with of, or formerly to, when an object follows.