"take the L" meaning in English

See take the L in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-take the L.wav Forms: takes the L [present, singular, third-person], taking the L [participle, present], took the L [past], taken the L [participle, past]
Etymology: From take + the + L (“losses (in sports statistics)”). Etymology templates: {{n-g|(in sports statistics)}} (in sports statistics) Head templates: {{en-verb|take<,,took,taken> the L}} take the L (third-person singular simple present takes the L, present participle taking the L, simple past took the L, past participle taken the L)
  1. (slang) To take the loss; to lose a game or competition, to make a mistake or to otherwise be beset with unfortunate circumstances. Tags: slang Translations (Translations): resignarse a la pérdida (Spanish), llevarse el cate (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-take_the_L-en-verb-kaw5OOp9 Disambiguation of 'Translations': 100 0
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take, L. Synonyms: take the l, take an L, take an l, take Ls, take L's
    Sense id: en-take_the_L-en-verb--xK6nJo3 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 41 59 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 34 66 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 36 64 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 30 70 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 25 75

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "(in sports statistics)"
      },
      "expansion": "(in sports statistics)",
      "name": "n-g"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From take + the + L (“losses (in sports statistics)”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "takes the L",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taking the L",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
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    },
    {
      "form": "took the L",
      "tags": [
        "past"
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    {
      "form": "taken the L",
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  "head_templates": [
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      "name": "en-verb"
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane:",
          "text": "Dom (David Jonsson): Please tell me you dumped his arse right there and then. […]\nYas (Vivian Oparah): Nope. I took a big L and got this prick some fucking hummus.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 August 1, Kat Moon, “We Took the Guys of ‘Outer Banks’ to Therapy”, in Cosmopolitan:",
          "text": "Chase [Stokes], Rudy [Pankow], and JD [Jonathan Daviss], we know the Pogues have taken a lot of L’s up to this point. What advice would you give to your characters heading into season 4?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To take the loss; to lose a game or competition, to make a mistake or to otherwise be beset with unfortunate circumstances."
      ],
      "id": "en-take_the_L-en-verb-kaw5OOp9",
      "links": [
        [
          "loss",
          "loss"
        ],
        [
          "lose",
          "lose"
        ],
        [
          "game",
          "game"
        ],
        [
          "competition",
          "competition"
        ],
        [
          "mistake",
          "mistake"
        ],
        [
          "beset",
          "beset"
        ],
        [
          "unfortunate",
          "unfortunate"
        ],
        [
          "circumstances",
          "circumstances"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) To take the loss; to lose a game or competition, to make a mistake or to otherwise be beset with unfortunate circumstances."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "resignarse a la pérdida"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "llevarse el cate"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "41 59",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "34 66",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "36 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "30 70",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We took the L (elevated train) to get downtown last night.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take, L."
      ],
      "id": "en-take_the_L-en-verb--xK6nJo3",
      "links": [
        [
          "take",
          "take#English"
        ],
        [
          "L",
          "L#English"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "21 79",
          "word": "take the l"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "21 79",
          "word": "take an L"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "21 79",
          "word": "take an l"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "21 79",
          "word": "take Ls"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "21 79",
          "word": "take L's"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-take the L.wav",
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  "word": "take the L"
}
{
  "categories": [
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    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Translation table header lacks gloss"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "(in sports statistics)"
      },
      "expansion": "(in sports statistics)",
      "name": "n-g"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From take + the + L (“losses (in sports statistics)”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "takes the L",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taking the L",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "took the L",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taken the L",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "take<,,took,taken> the L"
      },
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      "name": "en-verb"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane:",
          "text": "Dom (David Jonsson): Please tell me you dumped his arse right there and then. […]\nYas (Vivian Oparah): Nope. I took a big L and got this prick some fucking hummus.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2024 August 1, Kat Moon, “We Took the Guys of ‘Outer Banks’ to Therapy”, in Cosmopolitan:",
          "text": "Chase [Stokes], Rudy [Pankow], and JD [Jonathan Daviss], we know the Pogues have taken a lot of L’s up to this point. What advice would you give to your characters heading into season 4?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To take the loss; to lose a game or competition, to make a mistake or to otherwise be beset with unfortunate circumstances."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "loss",
          "loss"
        ],
        [
          "lose",
          "lose"
        ],
        [
          "game",
          "game"
        ],
        [
          "competition",
          "competition"
        ],
        [
          "mistake",
          "mistake"
        ],
        [
          "beset",
          "beset"
        ],
        [
          "unfortunate",
          "unfortunate"
        ],
        [
          "circumstances",
          "circumstances"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) To take the loss; to lose a game or competition, to make a mistake or to otherwise be beset with unfortunate circumstances."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
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        {
          "text": "We took the L (elevated train) to get downtown last night.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take, L."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "take",
          "take#English"
        ],
        [
          "L",
          "L#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "take the l"
    },
    {
      "word": "take an L"
    },
    {
      "word": "take an l"
    },
    {
      "word": "take Ls"
    },
    {
      "word": "take L's"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "resignarse a la pérdida"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "llevarse el cate"
    }
  ],
  "word": "take the L"
}

Download raw JSONL data for take the L meaning in English (3.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (bb46d54 and 0c3c9f6). 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.