Take-up meaning : To pick up. To begin doing (an activity) on a regular basis. To address (an issue). To occupy; to consume (space or time). To shorten by hemming. To remove the surface or bed of a road. (with 'on') To accept (a proposal, offer, request, etc.) from. To resume. To implement, to employ, to put into use. The act of taking something up, by tightening, absorption, or reeling in. (machinery) That which takes up or tightens; specifically, a device in a sewing machine or loom for drawing up the slack thread as the needle rises, in completing a stitch. Acceptance (of a proposal, offer, request, etc.).