take point

English

Verb

take point (third-person singular simple present takes point, present participle taking point, simple past took point, past participle taken point)

1. (military) In combat, to assume the first and most exposed position in a formation; to serve as the lead soldier/unit advancing through hostile or unsecured territory.
2. By extension, to assume a key role in an operation.
   • 2012, Sep. 15th, The Economist, The war in Syria: Death from the skies

     But unlike the intervention in Libya, where France and Britain took point and America “led from behind”, an intervention in Syria would have to be a mostly American affair, and as such it would be done with massive force from the outset.

Derived terms

• point man

Translations

to be the first, to lead in the combat

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 担当前哨 (dāndāngqiánshào)

• Finnish: mennä edeltä, mennä kärkeen, johtaa (fi)
• French: passer devant
• Russian: пойти́ пе́рвым (pojtí pérvym), повести́ за собо́й (povestí za sobój)

to assume a key role in an operation

• Finnish: johtaa (fi), ottaa johto
• Russian: возгла́вить (опера́цию) (vozglávitʹ (operáciju))

See also

• point taken, unrelated