Definition of "uptake" []

• A passage for drawing up smoke or air. (noun)
• Understanding; comprehension: very quick on the uptake. (noun)
• An act of taking in or absorbing, especially into a living organism. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In blue states, we have out of wedlock abortions instead of out of wedlock births (well, we try to teach birth control but the uptake is never 100%)."
• "And it made little difference that atom-splitting, radar, and television were British discoveries, since like jazz and cinema the main uptake of all the big ideas was on the American side of the Atlantic."
• "He has contributed strongly to the development of selective serotonin uptake blockers, a new generation of antidepressive drugs."