take under

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

1. (transitive, of a business) To bring to insolvency; to drive (a business) into financial distress.
   • 2021, Meka James, Heat of Love‎:

     I knew she didn’t have to be here, out in the sun with me trying to do whatever I could to keep this fire from taking the business under, but she was

   • 2015, Carole and David Schwinn, The Transformative Workplace‎:

     The costs associated with Patagonia's shift to organic material nearly took the company under, but given the company values, it almost had no choice.

   • 2013, Faiz Siddiqui, “The First Black Students Admitted to 15 Prestigious U.S. Universities, and Their Stories”, in Complex.com‎:

     It's believed that the Great Depression then took the business under.

• take-under
• undertake
• undertaker

• “take under”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.