take the heat

VERB

lose

Synonyms

STRONGEST

decline drop fall

STRONG

miss succumb yield

WEAK

be humbled be outdistanced be sunk be taken to cleaners be the loser be worsted come up short drop a bundle kiss goodbye lose out suffer defeat take a beating take the count

Antonyms

STRONGEST

ascend go up rise

WEAK

achieve confront face hold on to keep maintain meet succeed win

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

On a sobering night, it's not the interim manager who will take the heat.

From BBC • Nov. 6, 2025

Librarians who speak out against the spuriousness of the process might themselves be removed, in order to take the heat off school districts.

From Salon • Jun. 26, 2025

Many CSP factories focus the light from their mirrors onto specially designed towers that can take the heat and turn it into electricity, usually by turning water into steam.

From NewsForKids.net • May 21, 2024

Glaser joked Wednesday that she thinks Brady couldn’t take the heat because “no one’s ever said a bad thing to him in the past 30 years.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2024

I had a faint hope that the Captain, not being an islander, would take the heat as an excuse to slow down a bit.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

take the heat

Example Sentences

Related Words