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I have run into an intransitive form of “to take” that is not documented in any of these sources: Oxford Dictionary, Webster Collegiate, www.linguee.fr :
At this point she was persuaded that what she needed was a week-end with Peter. He took against her in a big way: [next follows a quotation where Peter explains he does not believe a single word what she says.]
I cannot make heads or tails of it.
More common is to say someone "takes to" something.
She took to the water as if she had been a dolphin in a past life.
I've never heard "took against". What I hear is "took an instant disliking to" or "disliked it instantly". Yet it's perfectly reasonable to interpret "took against" as being the negative parallel. (Sometimes we speak of "taking sides" and "took the side against" would be a way of pointing out which team you are opposing.)
Although this particular example sounds strained when inverted with "took against":
She took against the water as if she had been a cat in a past life.
You might have to rephrase that as:
She took against swimming as if she had been a cat in a past life.
Not common usage, in any case. But "taking to" something is said frequently.
