uptake
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The process of taking in or absorbing something, like food or light.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhptaykSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʌpteɪk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Absorption, especially of food or nutrient by an organism.
The act of lifting or taking up.
Understanding; comprehension.
verb
To absorb, as food or a drug by an organism.
To accept and begin to use, as a new practice.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Absorption, especially of food or nutrient by an organism.
Used this way, uptake is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use uptake
- “They developed paper napkins with a greater uptake of liquids.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Radioactive iodine test that measures the amount of radioactive iodine taken up by the thyroid gland.
A process of using up or consuming again.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.