take hold of the railing… she took hold of his arm with both her hands, and looked up eagerly—oh, with such terrible eagerness!—into his face. Anthony Trollope
—often used figuratively
As word of the subpoenas spread … confusion and hysteria took hold of the social set … Bob ColacelloI did not want Merlin to retire from the job until I was ready to take hold of it effectively myself … Mark Twain
2
: to become effective, established, or popular
The change in the law has not yet taken hold.
… a swath of land that has been spared from lava flows long enough that rich vegetation has had a chance to take hold. G. Brad Lewis
… here in central California the French aesthetic has recently taken hold. Rebecca Coffey