From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtake off phrasal verb1 take something ↔ offTAKE OFF CLOTHES to remove a piece of clothing OPP put on He sat on the bed to take his boots off. Charlie was taking off his shirt when the phone rang.2 TTATTSUPif an aircraft takes off, it rises into the air from the ground SYN lift off, → takeoff I felt quite excited as the plane took off from Heathrow.3 SUCCESSFULto suddenly start being successful Mimi became jealous when Jack’s career started taking off.4 take something off (something)HOLIDAY to have a holiday from work on a particular day, or for a particular length of timetake time off (work/school) I rang my boss and arranged to take some time off.take a day/the afternoon etc off Dad took the day off to come with me.5 take somebody ↔ off British English informalCOPY to copy the way someone speaks or behaves, in order to entertain people → take→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
take off• Mom, I hate this tie. Can I take it off?• Painstripper is the easiest way to take old paint off.• Seat-belts must remain fastened until after takeoff.• The takeoff and landing were a little rough, but the rest of the flight was very smooth.• Before you knew it, 11 companies had settled here, and the place really took off.• Her singing career took off after an appearance on Johnny Carson's "Tonight' show in America.• Some ducks took off and flew along the river.• Children spent hours watching the planes take off and land.• I took the lid off and tasted the soup.• Take your shoes off before you come in.• Carlos just took off for Venezuela for three weeks.• The president's plane took off from Andrews Air Force Base at 9:45 am.• Planes were unable to take off from Gatwick owing to high winds.• She was told to go to the washroom and take off her lipstick.• "It's warm in here, '' said Michael, taking off his jacket.• This is your Captain speaking. We are due to take off in five minutes.• He took off the old handle and fixed a new one in its place.• A standard detergent should take most of the grease off the surface.• I'm going to take Thursday off to go to the dentist.• Internet shopping will really take off when people become convinced that it is secure.career ... taking off• But it's as Hirst's sidekick rather than replacement that Bright can see his Wednesday career taking off.• Slowly, but surely, her career is taking off.take a day/the afternoon etc off• I could take the afternoon off from work as sick leave.• Today men from the Thames Valley force took the afternoon off to join a national protest in London.• One day he took the afternoon off without telling anyone.take-offˈtake-off noun 1 [countable, uncountable]TTA the time when a plane leaves the ground and begins to fly2 [countable]IMITATE a humorous performance that copies the way someone behaves3 [countable]DSJUMP the time when your feet leave the ground when you are jumpingExamples from the Corpus
take-off• By doing without liquid oxygen at take-off, the plane's total weight would be cut almost in half.• During take-off, one passenger began frantically ringing her call button.• At the beginning, the key moment is take-off.• One has been designed for short take-off and vertical landing aircraft and the other for conventional planes.• He did the best Ben Turpin take-off ever.From Longman Business Dictionarytake off phrasal verb1[transitive] take something → off to have a holiday from work on a particular day, or for a particular length of timeI’m taking Thursday off to do some Christmas shopping.2[intransitive] to start being successfulI hear the business is really taking off. → see also takeoff → take→ See Verb table 