とる
toru
Reach out and it's yours: とる
The picture Reaching out, pulling something loose, and holding it in your hand. とる is taking something into your hand; おく is setting down what your hand was holding.
Where the picture shows up in とる
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pick it up and pass it
すみません、そこの塩を取ってください。
sumimasen, soko no shio o totte kudasai
Sorry, could you pass me the salt?
Reaching across the table for the salt, lifting it, and passing it over
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take time and hold it
来週、休みを取ります。
raishū, yasumi o torimasu
I'm taking next week off.
Peeling one day off next week's calendar and holding it as yours
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get the qualification in hand
やっと車の免許を取りました。
yatto kuruma no menkyo o torimashita
I finally got my driver's licence.
Taking the licence handed over the counter into your own hand
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take it off
帽子を取ってあいさつしました。
bōshi o totte aisatsu shimashita
I took off my hat and greeted them.
Lifting the hat off your head, holding it, and bowing
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get hold of someone
あとで先方に連絡を取ってみます。
ato de senpō ni renraku o totte mimasu
I'll try to get in touch with them later.
Catching hold of the thread of contact stretching over to their side
連絡する is simply contacting; 連絡を取る is reaching until you actually get them.
All of it in one picture
とる is the picture of reaching out, pulling something loose, and holding it in your hand. The salt is lifted off the table; a day off is peeled from the calendar and held as yours; the licence is taken into your hand at the counter; the hat is lifted off your head; contact is a thread you catch hold of. Only what you end up holding changes — an object, a block of time, a qualification, a connection. So whenever とる appears, something is left sitting in your hand at the end of it.