carry-out
noun
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Carry+Out.
carry-out
American
[kar-ee-out]
/ ˈkær iˌaʊt /
Or
carryout
noun
carry-outs
plural
carry out
British
verb
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to perform or cause to be implemented
I wish he could afford to carry out his plan
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to bring to completion; accomplish
noun
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alcohol bought at a pub or off-licence for consumption elsewhere
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hot cooked food bought at a shop or restaurant for consumption elsewhere
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a shop or restaurant that sells such food
we'll get something from the Chinese carry-out
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( as modifier )
a carry-out shop
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carry out
Idioms
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Accomplish, bring to a conclusion, as in They carried out the mission successfully . Shakespeare had this term in King Lear (5:1): “And hardly shall I carry out my side, Her husband being alive.” [Late 1500s]
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Put in practice or effect, as in We will carry out the new policy , or Please carry out my instructions . [Mid-1800s]
Usage
What does carry-out mean? Carry-out (or carryout) refers to food or drinks picked up from a restaurant or other place to be consumed elsewhere, typically at home. It can also refer to the place where you get it, though this is less common unless it’s used as an adjective, as in carry-out place or carry-out service. In the U. S., this is also called takeout. In the U. K., it’s called takeaway. Other terms that are often used to describe such services are pick-up and to-go. The term carry-out is based on the phrasal verb carry out, literally meaning to carry something out of a place, like you’d carry the pizza out of the pizzeria. (As a verb, carry out also has other meanings.)Example: I don’t feel like cooking tonight—let’s just get carry-out from the taco place on the way home.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of carry-out
1965–70, adj. use of verb phrase carry out
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Many restaurants and bars attempted to operate with carry-out service to survive the closure.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 22, 2022
If you're looking for something that gives the same vibes as old-school Chinese carry-out, pair their chicken-less mandarin orange morsels with instant white rice and frozen broccoli.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2022
“Is it the best carry-out of public funding? I don’t know.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2021
The Gibsons boxes, which sell for as much as $268, boosted revenue at a time when health restrictions limited diners to delivery and carry-out.
From Reuters ● Aug. 17, 2021
That night, we ate carry-out from the sushi restaurant around the corner from Dad’s office.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
"His family will respect and carry out this wish."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
We understand that Catherine has her reasons, and in a strange way we want to see her carry out her mission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The real-estate industry was also satisfied with the appointment of Shorris after months of hand-wringing over who the administration would select to carry out a vision of “economic justice.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
AI models that underpin tools like chatbots and image generators are known as agents when they act autonomously to carry out tasks in the real world.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Well, in a year or two I’ll send for you, and we’ll dig in the Forum for relics, and carry out all the plans we’ve made so many times.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Beautiful Jamaican food, chicken cheesesteaks from my favorite carry-outs, five-course meals from Michelin-starred restaurants and my favorite Mexican spot in Baltimore: Clavel.
From Salon ● Nov. 18, 2023
Dad did cook for us when he had the time, but he worked and ripped and ran a lot, so I grew up eating out of corner stores and carry-outs mostly.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2021
Like Turner and Smith, they lived in that neighborhood and went to school or the park or the arcade or the carry-outs there every day.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 23, 2017
The sitdown restaurants will be quite different from the Kentucky Fried Chicken carry-outs that first made Colonel Sanders a household name.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
