for the taking
prep_phraseUK /fə ðə ˈteɪkɪŋ/ · US /fɚ ðə ˈteɪkɪŋ/
1
Idiomatic Available; able to be taken without difficulty.
- "He that believeth hath everlasting life." That life is no distant blessing, hard to win and costly to purchase. It is free. It is yours for the taking. It becomes yours the moment you believe.[1850?], anonymous [possibly written or edited by Horatius Bonar], The Night Cometh (Kelso Tracts; no. 43), London: James Nisbet & Co., […], →OCLC, page 7:
- After all these years of abnegation the crown might yet be his—was his for the taking.1862 November, “Madeleine Schaeffer. In Three Parts.—Part III.”, in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, volume XXV, number CL, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, publishers, […], →OCLC, chapter VII, page 757, column 2:
4 more examples
- How dreadful to live on when you were of no more interest to anyone, but must just 'pass the time' and die. But how much more dreadful to 'pass the time' when you were strong, and life were yours for the taking!1919 October, John Galsworthy, chapter I, in Saint’s Progress, London: William Heinemann, published December 1919, →OCLC, part IV, page 357:
- She had no desire to go near the Swenster mansion again, but neither could she bear to have Enid or Jane sharing in an adventure which was hers for the taking.1932, Ann Wirt [pseudonym; Mildred Benson], “The Swenster Pearls”, in The Secret of the Sundial (The Madge Sterling Series), Chicago, Ill.: The Goldsmith Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 41:
- With the non-steam types maximum power is there for the taking, as it were—at any time.1960 April 23, O. S. Nock, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 263:
- Compounds such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, water, hydrogen peroxide and oxides of nitrogen are also either available or can be manufactured from local materials [on the Moon, Mars, etc.] without too much difficulty once a base is established. These benefits are there for the taking by any generation willing to take the risks involved.1989, Arthur E[dward] Smith, “Introduction”, in Mars: The Next Step, Bristol; New York, N.Y.: Adam Hilger, IOP Publishing, →ISBN, page xxi: