take five
idiomatic phrase
variants
or take ten
US, informal
: to take a brief break (as from work)
They're locked in a fierce debate over the last scene of their film … when camp director and Hollywood veteran Sam Dalton finally orders them to take five.—
Megan Myers
Megan MyersParry Aftab, the executive director of WiredSafety.org, offers these tips for dealing with troubling messages. … Take five. Instead of replying to a message that upsets you, step away and do something you enjoy for five minutes.—Nicole Iorio
Nicole IorioI could see his anger had nearly boiled over. … Coach Colby, who ran the defense, was the brave soul who stepped in. "Take ten," he said, placing a hand on Orlando's chest. "Cool off. Then suit up and meet at the fifty-yard line. Got it?"—Brandon Terrell
Brandon TerrellExamples of take five in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Mets went up 5-1 on the Astros in the bottom of the second, taking five runs off left-hander Framber Valdez.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 29 June 2024
Water tests for contaminants could take five days, officials said.
—Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2024
Police said around 5:42 p.m. Tuesday, a trio of men took five Coach handbags, valued at $1,180, from the Macy’s store at the shopping center.
—Nollyanne Delacruz, The Mercury News, 7 June 2024
But this year, the industry has been coming to terms with the high costs of making games, especially PlayStation and Xbox studios who produce high-fidelity, realistic-looking titles that cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take five years to a decade to produce.
—Gene Park, Washington Post, 18 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for take five 
Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 29 June 2024
Water tests for contaminants could take five days, officials said.
—Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2024
Police said around 5:42 p.m. Tuesday, a trio of men took five Coach handbags, valued at $1,180, from the Macy’s store at the shopping center.
—Nollyanne Delacruz, The Mercury News, 7 June 2024
But this year, the industry has been coming to terms with the high costs of making games, especially PlayStation and Xbox studios who produce high-fidelity, realistic-looking titles that cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take five years to a decade to produce.
—Gene Park, Washington Post, 18 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for take five
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'take five.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Take five.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/take%20five. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
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