take out

British  

verb

1. to extract or remove

2. to obtain or secure (a licence, patent, etc) from an authority

3. to go out with; escort

   George is taking Susan out next week

4. bridge to bid a different suit from (one's partner) in order to rescue him from a difficult contract

5. slang to kill or destroy

6. informal to win, esp in sport

   he took out the tennis championship

7. informal to sap the energy or vitality of

8. informal to vent (anger, frustration, etc) on (esp an innocent person)

9. informal to make someone forget his anxieties, problems, etc

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adjective

1. bridge of or designating a conventional informatory bid, asking one's partner to bid another suit

2. sold for consumption away from the premises on which it is prepared

   a takeout meal

3. preparing and selling food for consumption away from the premises

   a takeout Indian restaurant

noun

1. a shop or restaurant that sells such food

   let's go to the Chinese takeout

2. a meal bought at such a shop or restaurant

   we'll have a takeout tonight to save cooking

take out Idioms  

1. Extract, remove, as in He should take out that splinter : [c. 1300]

2. Secure by applying to an authority, as in She took out a real estate license . [Late 1600s]

3. Escort on a date, as in He's been taking out a different girl every night of the week . [c. 1600]

4. Give vent to; see take it out on .

5. Carry away for use elsewhere, as in Can we get some pizza to take out?

6. Obtain as an equivalent in different form, as in We took out the money she owed us by having her baby-sit . [Early 1600s]

7. Set out, as in Jan and Herb took out for the beach , or The police took out after the suspects . [Mid-1800s]

8. Kill, destroy, as in Two snipers took out a whole platoon , or Flying low, the plane took out the enemy bunker in one pass . [1930s]

9. See under take out of .

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Example Sentences

When Buzz took out his flashlight from his pack, it barely illuminated inches in front of him.

From Literature

It’s still wise for a borrower to evaluate their best-, worst-, and base-case scenarios before taking out an ARM, says Keith Gumbinger, the vice president of mortgage information website HSH.com External link.

From Barron's

Several parishes had taken out mortgages on their church buildings to answer margin calls.

From The Wall Street Journal

Should we take money from our investment accounts or take out a loan against our home to pay for the upgrades?

From MarketWatch

There are currently seven upgraded ones in Northern Ireland, and with more to come, postboxes across the country have been taken out of service.

From BBC

Related Words

• batter
• decimate
• demolish
• destroy
• devastate
• impair
• injure
• mangle
• mar
• ravage
• raze
• ruin
• sabotage
• shatter
• sink
• smash
• spoil
• torpedo
• trash
• undermine