Meaning & use
take silk
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Meaning
phraseintransitiveBritishlegalformal
To become a Queen's Counsel or King's Counsel, a senior barrister in the UK.
Grammar: No object; used as a fixed phrase, often in the past tense: she took silk in 2010.
Patterns
- take silk in + year
- be called to take silk
After many years of practice, she decided to take silk.
He took silk in 2015 and now appears in high-profile cases.
The barrister was invited to take silk after a distinguished career.
Common combinations
- take silk in 2015
- She took silk in 2015 and quickly built a reputation in commercial law.
- decide to take silk
- After winning several important cases, he decided to take silk.
- be invited to take silk
- Only a few barristers are invited to take silk each year.
- take silk after a distinguished career
- He took silk after a distinguished career at the criminal bar.
Synonyms and how they differ
- become a QC
- This is the everyday equivalent, but it is less formal and not a fixed phrase; 'take silk' is the traditional legal term.
- be appointed Queen's Counsel
- This describes the official appointment; 'take silk' focuses on the barrister's action of joining that rank.
Commonly confused: take silk or take the silk? take silk or silk?
take silk vs take the silk
This is not a standard phrase; the correct expression is 'take silk' without 'the'.
take silk vs silk
As a noun, 'silk' is a fine cloth; in this legal phrase it refers to the silk gown worn by a QC.
Practice
Which sentence correctly uses the phrase 'take silk'?
Choose one answer.
'Take silk' is intransitive and means to become a QC; it takes no object and is not used for solicitors, so option 1 is correct. Option 0 wrongly adds an object, option 2 uses 'take' in a different sense, and option 3 confuses solicitors with barristers.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “take silk”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.