Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

take one for the team

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.42 in modern English

Syllables
take one -for the team
IPA
29
Scrabble Score
17
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To accept some chore, hardship, or punishment for the sake of one's friends or colleagues.

Informal

Example Sentences

Etymology

By analogy with a player making a sacrifice for the benefit of the sports team.

Usage

Inflected Forms

takes one for the team (present, singular) taking one for the team (participle, present) took one for the team (past) taken one for the team (participle, past)

Phrases

bell the cat fall on a grenade step into the breach take the fall there's no I in team you got this

Frequently Paired Words

bell the cat fall on a grenade step into the breach take the fall there's no I in team you got this

Questions

What does take one for the team mean?
To accept some chore, hardship, or punishment for the sake of one's friends or colleagues.
Where does take one for the team come from?
By analogy with a player making a sacrifice for the benefit of the sports team.

How to pronounce take one for the team

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “take one for the team”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “take one for the team”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “take one for the team” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.