How to Use take (a lot of) time in a Sentence

take (a lot of) time

idiom
Definition of take (a lot of) timenext
  • Votes that arrive by post take a lot of time to count, of course.
    — Lila MacLellan, Quartz, 6 Nov. 2020
  • Calves take a lot of time and effort to strengthen and build.
    — David Otey, Men's Health, 14 Dec. 2022
  • All of these things would take a lot of time and a lot of money to address.
    — Caroline Spivack, Curbed, 8 Apr. 2021
  • That’s a perspective that does take a lot of time to learn, too.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 10 May 2021
  • Write down your statement, and take a lot of time to review it.
    — Amy Dickinson, The Denver Post, 11 Jan. 2020
  • They are take a lot of time -- to prepare, to travel, to attend.
    — Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 15 Aug. 2017
  • But certain costumes take a lot of time or a lot of money.
    — Christian Holub, EW.com, 19 July 2022
  • The rebuild database option may take a lot of time depending on the type and number of data items on the device.
    — Toby Grey, BGR, 28 June 2022
  • Fixing your home office situation doesn't have to take a lot of time -- or cost a lot of money.
    — Kathryn Vasel, CNN, 8 Dec. 2020
  • The Process Marino, keeping his cards close, says all of the costumes are expensive and take a lot of time, presenting different challenges.
    — Kirbie Johnson, Allure, 28 Oct. 2021
  • This endeavor would take a lot of time and money, in addition to collective effort.
    — Iulia Georgescu, Wired, 28 Sep. 2021
  • The thing is that contract drafting has dozens of repetitive tasks that require zero creativity to perform but take a lot of time.
    — Yehor Melnykov, Forbes, 10 June 2021
  • Edwins has started Vivant @ Home, a virtual cooking class to demystify meal preparation and to show how making a healthy meal doesn’t have to take a lot of time.
    — Marc Bona, cleveland, 13 Jan. 2021
  • To avoid excessive spending, Simmons advises women to take a lot of time—more time than is comfortable—before buying non-essential items.
    — Halley Bondy, NBC News, 30 Sep. 2021
  • And business leaders and trade experts are on edge over the likelihood that Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott’s directive this week to step up commercial vehicle safety inspections on the border is going to take a lot of time and cost a lot of money.
    — Dallas News, 8 Apr. 2022
  • Various trees in her home today display the hundreds of ornaments and curios that obviously take a lot of time and care to display as the decorations keep moving on to virtually every room.
    — Linda Gandee, cleveland, 27 Dec. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'take (a lot of) time.' 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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