takeaway

Or take-a·way

[teyk-uh-wey]

noun

1. something taken back or away, especially an employee benefit that is eliminated or substantially reduced by the terms of a union contract.

2. conclusions, impressions, or action points resulting from a meeting, discussion, roundtable, or the like.

   The takeaway was that we had to do a lot more work on the proposal before it could be shown to the governing board.

3. Chiefly British.

   1. a takeout restaurant.

      Let's pick something up at the Indian takeaway.

   2. food from a takeout restaurant.

      I get Chinese takeaway at least once a week.

4. Sports.

   1. (in hockey and football) the act of getting the puck or ball away from the team on the offense.

      The problem with most hockey statistics is they are not very consistent in how they determine takeaways and giveaways.

   2. (in golf) a backswing.

      I got him a video entitled “Improving the Takeaway in Your Golf Swing” for his birthday.

adjective

1. of or relating to what is or can be taken away.

   a list of takeaway proposals presented by management.

2. Chiefly British.,  takeout.

Word History and Origins

Origin of takeaway¹

1930–35 for earlier sense “train car for carrying logs”; 1960–65 takeaway for def. 5; take + away

Example Sentences

The other great takeaway came from how Cal uses the mushroom sugo—which is to say, any and every way imaginable.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Here are five takeaways from the November beige book, published Wednesday afternoon.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That is the takeaway from a report published Wednesday morning by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, known as OMFIF.

Read more on Barron's

The main takeaway from the Tuesday retail sales report is that spending growth slowed toward the end of the summer, especially for discretionary items.

Read more on Barron's

That makes the richest takeaway from this mostly breezy if tonally jumbled film the utterly winning pairing of Teller and Randolph.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• outcome 
• result 
• upshot 

When To Use

What does takeaway mean?

Takeaway is popularly used to mean the main thing you’ve learned, will remember, or need to take action on after having been presented with information, such as during a meeting or in a report.Take away is a common phrasal verb that’s used in a lot of contexts, and takeaway as a noun has a lot of different meanings. It’s sometimes spelled take-away.In the U.K., takeaway is the word for what Americans call takeout—food picked up from a restaurant to eat elsewhere, typically at home. It can also refer to the restaurant where you get it.In hockey and American football, a takeaway happens when the puck or ball is somehow taken away from the opposing team.Example: The biggest takeaway from the intern meeting was to not post pictures or videos on social media that could reflect badly on the company.