take the offensive
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To start an attack or take initiative in a conflict
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Bắt đầu một cuộc tấn công hoặc chủ động trong xung đột
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to take the act of attacking
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company will take the offensive against its competitors with a new marketing campaign
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 the offensive” mean?
To start an attack or take initiative in a conflict Literally: to take the act of attacking
Is “take the offensive” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.