take up with (one)
To form a close relationship with or begin to associate or keep company with one. Often used in reference to an unsavory or untrustworthy person or group of people. He was a great student until he took up with a group of troublemakers and ended up getting expelled. Sarah has taken up with a much older man, and it makes me really uncomfortable.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
take up with someone
to become close with someone; to become friends with someone. I think that Albert may have taken up with the wrong people. I did not want Lefty to take up with Max, but he did, and look where it's gotten him.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
take up with
Begin to associate with, consort with, as in She took up with a fast crowd. [Early 1600s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
take up with
Informal To begin to associate with; consort with: took up with a fast crowd.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.