Or·der n.
 1. Regular arrangement; any methodical or established succession or harmonious relation; method; system; as: (a) Of material things, like the books in a library. (b) Of intellectual notions or ideas, like the topics of a discource. (c) Of periods of time or occurrences, and the like.
    The side chambers were . . . thirty in order.   --Ezek. xli. 6.
    Bright-harnessed angels sit in order serviceable.   --Milton.
    Good order is the foundation of all good things.   --Burke.
 2. Right arrangement; a normal, correct, or fit condition; as, the house is in order; the machinery is out of order.
 3. The customary mode of procedure; established system, as in the conduct of debates or the transaction of business; usage; custom; fashion.
 And, pregnant with his grander thought,
 Brought the old order into doubt.   --Emerson.
 4. Conformity with law or decorum; freedom from disturbance; general tranquillity; public quiet; as, to preserve order in a community or an assembly.
 5. That which prescribes a method of procedure; a rule or regulation made by competent authority; as, the rules and orders of the senate.
    The church hath authority to establish that for an order at one time which at another time it may abolish.   --Hooker.
 6. A command; a mandate; a precept; a direction.
    Upon this new fright, an order was made by both houses for disarming all the papists in England.   --Clarendon.
 7. Hence: A commission to purchase, sell, or supply goods; a direction, in writing, to pay money, to furnish supplies, to admit to a building, a place of entertainment, or the like; as, orders for blankets are large.
    In those days were pit orders -- beshrew the uncomfortable manager who abolished them.   --Lamb.
 8. A number of things or persons arranged in a fixed or suitable place, or relative position; a rank; a row; a grade; especially, a rank or class in society; a group or division of men in the same social or other position; also, a distinct character, kind, or sort; as, the higher or lower orders of society; talent of a high order.
    They are in equal order to their several ends.   --Jer. Taylor.
    Various orders various ensigns bear.   --Granville.
    Which, to his order of mind, must have seemed little short of crime.   --Hawthorne.
 9. A body of persons having some common honorary distinction or rule of obligation; esp., a body of religious persons or aggregate of convents living under a common rule; as, the Order of the Bath; the Franciscan order.
 Find a barefoot brother out,
 One of our order, to associate me.   --Shak.
    The venerable order of the Knights Templars.   --Sir W. Scott.
 10. An ecclesiastical grade or rank, as of deacon, priest, or bishop; the office of the Christian ministry; -- often used in the plural; as, to take orders, or to take holy orders, that is, to enter some grade of the ministry.
 11. Arch. The disposition of a column and its component parts, and of the entablature resting upon it, in classical architecture; hence (as the column and entablature are the characteristic features of classical architecture) a style or manner of architectural designing.
 Note: ☞ The Greeks used three different orders, easy to distinguish, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.  The Romans added the Tuscan, and changed the Doric so that it is hardly recognizable, and also used a modified Corinthian called Composite.  The Renaissance writers on architecture recognized five orders as orthodox or classical, -- Doric (the Roman sort), Ionic, Tuscan, Corinthian, and Composite. See Illust. of Capital.
 12. Nat. Hist. An assemblage of genera having certain important characters in common; as, the Carnivora and Insectivora are orders of Mammalia.
 Note: ☞ The Linnaean artificial orders of plants rested mainly on identity in the numer of pistils, or agreement in some one character.  Natural orders are groups of genera agreeing in the fundamental plan of their flowers and fruit.  A natural order is usually (in botany) equivalent to a family, and may include several tribes.
 13. Rhet. The placing of words and members in a sentence in such a manner as to contribute to force and beauty or clearness of expression.
 14. Math. Rank; degree; thus, the order of a curve or surface is the same as the degree of its equation.
 Artificial order or Artificial system. See Artificial classification, under Artificial, and Note to def. 12 above.
 Close order Mil., the arrangement of the ranks with a distance of about half a pace between them; with a distance of about three yards the ranks are in open order.
 The four Orders, The Orders four, the four orders of mendicant friars. See Friar. --Chaucer.
 General orders Mil., orders issued which concern the whole command, or the troops generally, in distinction from special orders.
 Holy orders. (a) Eccl. The different grades of the Christian ministry; ordination to the ministry. See def. 10 above. (b) R. C. Ch. A sacrament for the purpose of conferring a special grace on those ordained.
 In order to, for the purpose of; to the end; as means to.
    The best knowledge is that which is of greatest use in order to our eternal happiness.   --Tillotson.

 Minor orders R. C. Ch., orders beneath the diaconate in sacramental dignity, as acolyte, exorcist, reader, doorkeeper.
 Money order. See under Money.
 Natural order. Bot. See def. 12, Note.
 Order book. (a) A merchant's book in which orders are entered. (b) Mil. A book kept at headquarters, in which all orders are recorded for the information of officers and men. (c) A book in the House of Commons in which proposed orders must be entered. [Eng.]
 Order in Council, a royal order issued with and by the advice of the Privy Council. [Great Britain]
 Order of battle Mil., the particular disposition given to the troops of an army on the field of battle.
 Order of the day, in legislative bodies, the special business appointed for a specified day.
 Order of a differential equation Math., the greatest index of differentiation in the equation.
 Sailing orders Naut., the final instructions given to the commander of a ship of war before a cruise.
 Sealed orders, orders sealed, and not to be opened until a certain time, or arrival at a certain place, as after a ship is at sea.
 Standing order. (a) A continuing regulation for the conduct of parliamentary business. (b) Mil. An order not subject to change by an officer temporarily in command.
 To give order, to give command or directions. --Shak.
 To take order for, to take charge of; to make arrangements concerning.
    Whiles I take order for mine own affairs.   --Shak.
 Syn: -- Arrangement; management. See Direction.


 Take, v. t. [imp. Took p. p. Taken p. pr. & vb. n. Taking.]
 1. In an active sense; To lay hold of; to seize with the hands, or otherwise; to grasp; to get into one's hold or possession; to procure; to seize and carry away; to convey. Hence, specifically: --
 (a) To obtain possession of by force or artifice; to get the custody or control of; to reduce into subjection to one's power or will; to capture; to seize; to make prisoner; as, to take an army, a city, or a ship; also, to come upon or befall; to fasten on; to attack; to seize; -- said of a disease, misfortune, or the like.
    This man was taken of the Jews.   --Acts xxiii. 27.
 Men in their loose, unguarded hours they take;
 Not that themselves are wise, but others weak.   --Pope.
    They that come abroad after these showers are commonly taken with sickness.   --Bacon.
 There he blasts the tree and takes the cattle
 And makes milch kine yield blood.   --Shak.
 (b) To gain or secure the interest or affection of; to captivate; to engage; to interest; to charm.
    Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.   --Prov. vi. 25.
    Cleombroutus was so taken with this prospect, that he had no patience.   --Wake.
    I know not why, but there was a something in those half-seen features, -- a charm in the very shadow that hung over their imagined beauty, -- which took me more than all the outshining loveliness of her companions.   --Moore.
 (c) To make selection of; to choose; also, to turn to; to have recourse to; as, to take the road to the right.
    Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.  And Jonathan was taken.   --1 Sam. xiv. 42.
    The violence of storming is the course which God is forced to take for the destroying . . . of sinners.   --Hammond.
 (d) To employ; to use; to occupy; hence, to demand; to require; as, it takes so much cloth to make a coat; it takes five hours to get to Boston from New York by car.
    This man always takes time . . . before he passes his judgments.   --I. Watts.
 (e) To form a likeness of; to copy; to delineate; to picture; as, to take a picture of a person.
    Beauty alone could beauty take so right.   --Dryden.
 (f) To draw; to deduce; to derive. [R.]
    The firm belief of a future judgment is the most forcible motive to a good life, because taken from this consideration of the most lasting happiness and misery.   --Tillotson.
 (g) To assume; to adopt; to acquire, as shape; to permit to one's self; to indulge or engage in; to yield to; to have or feel; to enjoy or experience, as rest, revenge, delight, shame; to form and adopt, as a resolution; -- used in general senses, limited by a following complement, in many idiomatic phrases; as, to take a resolution; I take the liberty to say.
 (h) To lead; to conduct; as, to take a child to church.
 (i) To carry; to convey; to deliver to another; to hand over; as, he took the book to the bindery; he took a dictionary with him.
    He took me certain gold, I wot it well.   --Chaucer.
 (k) To remove; to withdraw; to deduct; -- with from; as, to take the breath from one; to take two from four.
 2. In a somewhat passive sense, to receive; to bear; to endure; to acknowledge; to accept. Specifically: --
 (a) To accept, as something offered; to receive; not to refuse or reject; to admit.
    Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer.   --Num. xxxv. 31.
    Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore.   --1 Tim. v. 10.
 (b) To receive as something to be eaten or drunk; to partake of; to swallow; as, to take food or wine.
 (c) Not to refuse or balk at; to undertake readily; to clear; as, to take a hedge or fence.
 (d) To bear without ill humor or resentment; to submit to; to tolerate; to endure; as, to take a joke; he will take an affront from no man.
 (e) To admit, as, something presented to the mind; not to dispute; to allow; to accept; to receive in thought; to entertain in opinion; to understand; to interpret; to regard or look upon; to consider; to suppose; as, to take a thing for granted; this I take to be man's motive; to take men for spies.
    You take me right.   --Bacon.
    Charity, taken in its largest extent, is nothing else but the science love of God and our neighbor.   --Wake.
    [He] took that for virtue and affection which was nothing but vice in a disguise.   --South.
    You'd doubt his sex, and take him for a girl.   --Tate.
 (f) To accept the word or offer of; to receive and accept; to bear; to submit to; to enter into agreement with; -- used in general senses; as, to take a form or shape.
    I take thee at thy word.   --Rowe.
 Yet thy moist clay is pliant to command; . . .
 Not take the mold.   --Dryden.
 3. To make a picture, photograph, or the like, of; as, to take a group or a scene. [Colloq.]
 4.  To give or deliver (a blow to); to strike; hit; as, he took me in the face; he took me a blow on the head. [Obs. exc. Slang or Dial.]
 To be taken aback, To take advantage of, To take air, etc. See under Aback, Advantage, etc.
 To take aim, to direct the eye or weapon; to aim.
 To take along, to carry, lead, or convey.
 To take arms, to commence war or hostilities.
 To take away, to carry off; to remove; to cause deprivation of; to do away with; as, a bill for taking away the votes of bishops. “By your own law, I take your life away.” --Dryden.
 To take breath, to stop, as from labor, in order to breathe or rest; to recruit or refresh one's self.
 To take care, to exercise care or vigilance; to be solicitous. “Doth God take care for oxen?” --1 Cor. ix. 9.
 To take care of, to have the charge or care of; to care for; to superintend or oversee.
 To take down. (a) To reduce; to bring down, as from a high, or higher, place; as, to take down a book; hence, to bring lower; to depress; to abase or humble; as, to take down pride, or the proud. “I never attempted to be impudent yet, that I was not taken down.” --Goldsmith. (b) To swallow; as, to take down a potion. (c) To pull down; to pull to pieces; as, to take down a house or a scaffold. (d) To record; to write down; as, to take down a man's words at the time he utters them.
 To take effect, To take fire. See under Effect, and Fire.
 To take ground to the right or To take ground to the left Mil., to extend the line to the right or left; to move, as troops, to the right or left.
 To take heart, to gain confidence or courage; to be encouraged.
 To take heed, to be careful or cautious. “Take heed what doom against yourself you give.” --Dryden.
 To take heed to, to attend with care, as, take heed to thy ways.
 To take hold of, to seize; to fix on.
 To take horse, to mount and ride a horse.
 To take in. (a) To inclose; to fence. (b) To encompass or embrace; to comprise; to comprehend. (c) To draw into a smaller compass; to contract; to brail or furl; as, to take in sail. (d) To cheat; to circumvent; to gull; to deceive. [Colloq.] (e) To admit; to receive; as, a leaky vessel will take in water. (f) To win by conquest. [Obs.]
 For now Troy's broad-wayed town
 He shall take in.   --Chapman.
 (g) To receive into the mind or understanding. “Some bright genius can take in a long train of propositions.” --I. Watts. (h) To receive regularly, as a periodical work or newspaper; to take. [Eng.]
 To take in hand. See under Hand.
 To take in vain, to employ or utter as in an oath. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” --Ex. xx. 7.
 To take issue. See under Issue.
 To take leave. See Leave, n., 2.
 To take a newspaper, magazine, or the like, to receive it regularly, as on paying the price of subscription.
 To take notice, to observe, or to observe with particular attention.
 To take notice of. See under Notice.
 To take oath, to swear with solemnity, or in a judicial manner.
 To take on, to assume; to take upon one's self; as, to take on a character or responsibility.
 To take one's own course, to act one's pleasure; to pursue the measures of one's own choice.
 To take order for. See under Order.
 To take order with, to check; to hinder; to repress. [Obs.] --Bacon.
 To take orders. (a) To receive directions or commands. (b) Eccl. To enter some grade of the ministry. See Order, n., 10.
 To take out. (a) To remove from within a place; to separate; to deduct. (b) To draw out; to remove; to clear or cleanse from; as, to take out a stain or spot from cloth. (c) To produce for one's self; as, to take out a patent.  (d) To put an end to; as, to take the conceit out of a man. (e) To escort; as, to take out to dinner.
 To take over, to undertake; to take the management of. [Eng.] --Cross (Life of G. Eliot).
 To take part, to share; as, they take part in our rejoicing.
 To take part with, to unite with; to join with.
 To take place, root, sides, stock, etc. See under Place, Root, Side, etc.
 To take the air. (a) Falconry To seek to escape by trying to rise higher than the falcon; -- said of a bird. (b) See under Air.
 To take the field. Mil. See under Field.
 To take thought, to be concerned or anxious; to be solicitous. --Matt. vi. 25, 27.
 To take to heart. See under Heart.
 To take to task, to reprove; to censure.
 To take up. (a) To lift; to raise. --Hood. (b) To buy or borrow; as, to take up goods to a large amount; to take up money at the bank. (c) To begin; as, to take up a lamentation. --Ezek. xix. 1. (d) To gather together; to bind up; to fasten or to replace; as, to take up raveled stitches; specifically Surg., to fasten with a ligature. (e) To engross; to employ; to occupy or fill; as, to take up the time; to take up a great deal of room. (f) To take permanently. “Arnobius asserts that men of the finest parts . . . took up their rest in the Christian religion.” --Addison. (g) To seize; to catch; to arrest; as, to take up a thief; to take up vagabonds. (h) To admit; to believe; to receive. [Obs.]
    The ancients took up experiments upon credit.   --Bacon.
 (i) To answer by reproof; to reprimand; to berate.
    One of his relations took him up roundly.   --L'Estrange.
 (k) To begin where another left off; to keep up in continuous succession; to take up (a topic, an activity).
 Soon as the evening shades prevail,
 The moon takes up the wondrous tale.   --Addison.
 (l) To assume; to adopt as one's own; to carry on or manage; as, to take up the quarrels of our neighbors; to take up current opinions. “They take up our old trade of conquering.” --Dryden. (m) To comprise; to include. “The noble poem of Palemon and Arcite . . . takes up seven years.” --Dryden. (n) To receive, accept, or adopt for the purpose of assisting; to espouse the cause of; to favor. --Ps. xxvii. 10. (o) To collect; to exact, as a tax; to levy; as, to take up a contribution. “Take up commodities upon our bills.” --Shak. (p) To pay and receive; as, to take up a note at the bank. (q) Mach. To remove, as by an adjustment of parts; as, to take up lost motion, as in a bearing; also, to make tight, as by winding, or drawing; as, to take up slack thread in sewing. (r) To make up; to compose; to settle; as, to take up a quarrel. [Obs.] --Shak. -- (s) To accept from someone, as a wager or a challenge; as, J. took M. up on his challenge.
 To take up arms. Same as To take arms, above.
 To take upon one's self. (a) To assume; to undertake; as, he takes upon himself to assert that the fact is capable of proof. (b) To appropriate to one's self; to allow to be imputed to, or inflicted upon, one's self; as, to take upon one's self a punishment.
 To take up the gauntlet. See under Gauntlet.