"take a back seat" meaning in All languages combined

See take a back seat on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: En-au-take a back seat.ogg [Australia] Forms: takes a back seat [present, singular, third-person], taking a back seat [participle, present], took a back seat [past], taken a back seat [participle, past]
Etymology: From take a seat and back seat. Etymology templates: {{m|en|take a seat}} take a seat, {{m|en|back seat}} back seat Head templates: {{en-verb|take<,,took,taken> a back seat}} take a back seat (third-person singular simple present takes a back seat, present participle taking a back seat, simple past took a back seat, past participle taken a back seat)
  1. (idiomatic) To adopt a position of noninvolvement. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-take_a_back_seat-en-verb-x4rbVJ8z Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English light verb constructions, English predicates, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 87 13 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 84 16 Disambiguation of English light verb constructions: 85 15 Disambiguation of English predicates: 57 43 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 84 16
  2. (idiomatic) To be second to someone or something; to be less important or have a lower priority. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-take_a_back_seat-en-verb-SHc2uYFI
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: in the driver's seat, on the back burner, second fiddle, take a number

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for take a back seat meaning in All languages combined (3.9kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "take a seat"
      },
      "expansion": "take a seat",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back seat"
      },
      "expansion": "back seat",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From take a seat and back seat.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "takes a back seat",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taking a back seat",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "took a back seat",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taken a back seat",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "take<,,took,taken> a back seat"
      },
      "expansion": "take a back seat (third-person singular simple present takes a back seat, present participle taking a back seat, simple past took a back seat, past participle taken a back seat)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "52 48",
      "word": "in the driver's seat"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "52 48",
      "word": "on the back burner"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "52 48",
      "word": "second fiddle"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "52 48",
      "word": "take a number"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "87 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "84 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English light verb constructions",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "57 43",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "84 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The new chairman is happy to take a back seat when it comes to day-to-day operations.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To adopt a position of noninvolvement."
      ],
      "id": "en-take_a_back_seat-en-verb-x4rbVJ8z",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To adopt a position of noninvolvement."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2004, My Life by Bill Clinton\nBut as with most kids, politics took a backseat to daily life."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 January 14, “Thailand's new king rejects the army's proposed constitution”, in The Economist",
          "text": "The bluntness of King Vajiralongkorn's intervention—and the determination it reveals to resist relatively small checks on royal power—is both a snub to the junta and a worry for democrats, some of whom had dared hope that the new king might be happy to take a back seat in public life.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 April 29, Noam Scheiber, John Koblin, “Will a Chatbot Write the Next ‘Succession’?”, in The New York Times",
          "text": "Mr. August, a screenwriter for movies like “Charlie’s Angels” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” said that while artificial intelligence had taken a back seat to compensation in the Writers Guild negotiation, the union was making two key demands on the subject of automation.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be second to someone or something; to be less important or have a lower priority."
      ],
      "id": "en-take_a_back_seat-en-verb-SHc2uYFI",
      "links": [
        [
          "priority",
          "priority"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be second to someone or something; to be less important or have a lower priority."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-take a back seat.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/48/En-au-take_a_back_seat.ogg/En-au-take_a_back_seat.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/En-au-take_a_back_seat.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "take a back seat"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English light verb constructions",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English predicates",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "take a seat"
      },
      "expansion": "take a seat",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back seat"
      },
      "expansion": "back seat",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From take a seat and back seat.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "takes a back seat",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taking a back seat",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "took a back seat",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taken a back seat",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "take<,,took,taken> a back seat"
      },
      "expansion": "take a back seat (third-person singular simple present takes a back seat, present participle taking a back seat, simple past took a back seat, past participle taken a back seat)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "in the driver's seat"
    },
    {
      "word": "on the back burner"
    },
    {
      "word": "second fiddle"
    },
    {
      "word": "take a number"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The new chairman is happy to take a back seat when it comes to day-to-day operations.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To adopt a position of noninvolvement."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To adopt a position of noninvolvement."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2004, My Life by Bill Clinton\nBut as with most kids, politics took a backseat to daily life."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 January 14, “Thailand's new king rejects the army's proposed constitution”, in The Economist",
          "text": "The bluntness of King Vajiralongkorn's intervention—and the determination it reveals to resist relatively small checks on royal power—is both a snub to the junta and a worry for democrats, some of whom had dared hope that the new king might be happy to take a back seat in public life.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 April 29, Noam Scheiber, John Koblin, “Will a Chatbot Write the Next ‘Succession’?”, in The New York Times",
          "text": "Mr. August, a screenwriter for movies like “Charlie’s Angels” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” said that while artificial intelligence had taken a back seat to compensation in the Writers Guild negotiation, the union was making two key demands on the subject of automation.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be second to someone or something; to be less important or have a lower priority."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "priority",
          "priority"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be second to someone or something; to be less important or have a lower priority."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-take a back seat.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/48/En-au-take_a_back_seat.ogg/En-au-take_a_back_seat.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/En-au-take_a_back_seat.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "take a back seat"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.