take on water
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to accept or take on more responsibility or tasks
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
chấp nhận hoặc nhận thêm trách nhiệm hoặc nhiệm vụ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to fill with water
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company is taking on water with the new project.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “take on water” mean?
to accept or take on more responsibility or tasks Literally: to fill with water
Is “take on water” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.