to take (something) down

to write / make a note of: This is important – make sure you take it down.

to take in

to hear and understand information: You remember what he said about our marketing strategy? It took me a while to take it in. But when I did, I realised it is brilliant!

to deceive: Do you really believe what the politician said? You shouldn’t allow yourself to be taken in!

to take (somebody / something) on

to employ: The accounting department is going to take on two new employees this month.

to assume responsibility: Do you think you can really take on a mentoring role, on top of your current training commitments?

to take off

to make great progress: Business has really taken off this year, despite the wider economic slowdown.

to take over

to assume control of an organisation: Have you heard that BigCo is planning to take over SmallCo?

Similarly, the compound noun “takeover” refers to the procedure of taking control of an organization.

to start a new job previously occupied by someone else: He takes over as CFO in December, when Harry is planning to retire.

to talk (something) up

to exaggerate: We’ll have to talk up our role in the GenCo merger negotiations, if we’re to have a chance of being instructed by XCo on its merger plans.

to talk (something) over

to discuss: We can talk over your idea later this afternoon when I’m not so busy.

to talk (someone) through

to explain something to someone: As Fiona was away last week, I need someone to talk her through the project.

to team up

to come together as a team: Jack, can you team up with Sandra and Chris and do some research on this idea?

to think (something) over

to consider something carefully: Give me a day or two to think it over. I’ll get back to you on Thursday.

to thrash (something) out

to discuss for a long time until reaching an agreement: They trashed out the negotiations all night and finally came to an agreement at six in the morning.

to throw (something) together

to make or arrange very quickly: Here’s the sales brochure we threw together last night.

to tide (someone) over

to make something last if used carefully: The research grant isn’t a lot of money, but it should be enough to tide us over for a couple of months.

to tip off

to secretly inform the authorities: There’s a rumour that Benny tipped off the tax authorities about BentCo’s offshore accounts.

Similarly, the compound noun “tip-off” refers to information.

to tone (something) down

to make something seem less extreme, more moderate: Can you tone down what Simon said about “skyrocketing sales” in your article? Simon does tend to exaggerate.

to touch upon

to mention: We touched upon that issue in the meeting, but didn’t come to any final decision.

to track (something) down

to find after a long search: Have you tracked down that lease agreement yet? I remember you were looking for it last week.

to trigger (something) off

to cause something to happen: There’s a risk that the course of action you suggest would trigger off all sorts of tax-related problems.

to turn (something) down

to reject: We were really expecting to win the tender, but they turned us down.

to turn up

to make an appearance: It was a total waste of time going to court today. The defendant didn’t even turn up.