1an amount of food, air, or another substance taken into the body:your daily intake of calorieshis alcohol intake
an act of taking something into the body:she heard his sharp intake of breath [mass noun]:a protective factor is the intake of cereal fibre
2 [treated as singular or plural] the people taken into an organization at a particular time:the new intake of MPs
an act of taking people into an organization:the first intake of women was in 1915
3a place or structure through which something is taken in, e.g. water into a channel or pipe from a river, fuel or air into an engine, etc.:cut rectangular holes for the air intake
[mass noun] the action of taking something in:facilities for the intake of grain by road
4 [mass noun]Northern English land reclaimed from a moor or common.
Origin:
Middle English (originally Scots and northern English): from in+ take
