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🍱 Food to go 🥤 For taking away 🃏 A bridge bid
takeout

takeout

61 1.5
Food prepared by a restaurant to eat somewhere else
  • noun
  • /ˈteɪkaʊt/
  • US
translation icon : comida para llevar
  • The new Chinese place down the street has excellent takeout options to enjoy at home.
  • takeout food

Or brings home lots of takeout for everyone.

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Examples

  • I've got some leftover takeout from last night.

  • As usual, they ate lunch in his chambers—takeout food from a bodega on the Grand Concourse.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • And, um, could you pick up some takeout for dinner tonight?

    May December (2023)

  • I just want a takeout order.

    Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

  • My mom was not a fan of Chinese takeout or pizza, so...

    Brave the Dark (2025)

  • Two thirds of your business is takeout, correct?

    The Accountant² (2025)

  • If you wanna hang out later, there's this really good takeout Thai place around the corner.

    Don't Let Her In (2021)

  • Oh, I'm just grabbing some takeout.

    Hit Man (2024)

  • Jason had run out to get takeout barbecue for him and the kids from Don's Steak House.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Some craved an occasional takeout order of softshell crab.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

takeaway
vstakeout
  • UK
5 1.5

Food you buy to eat somewhere else

is the general term not marked for a specific regional usage
takeout food
vstakeout
  • US
3 1.4

Food made by a restaurant or shop to eat somewhere else

is defined by preparation and sale by a restaurant or store
carryout
vstakeout
  • US
3 2.7

Food sold to take away and eat somewhere else or a shop that sells it

refers only to the food not to the selling location
take-away
vstakeout
  • UK
1 2.3

Food prepared to be eaten somewhere else, not in the shop

emphasizes that the food is prepared and sold by a restaurant or store

Antonyms

to dine in
3 3.0

To eat a meal at home instead of going to a restaurant

Compounds

takeout food
  • US
3 1.4

Food made by a restaurant or shop to eat somewhere else

Surface Forms

takeout singular
takeouts plural

Morphology

takeout = take + out (transparent) = take + out

The noun is a straightforward compound/nominalization of the phrasal verb 'take out' meaning food prepared to be taken away.

Etymology

Takeout comes from the simple phrase take out, which means 'to carry away' or 'to remove'. It first described food you 'take out' of a restaurant to eat somewhere else, so takeout now means food prepared to be eaten away from the shop.