Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To remove something from a place, container, or situation: The core meaning involves extracting, withdrawing, or lifting something out.
   • To obtain something formally or officially: To secure something, like a document or permission, through an official process.
   • To buy prepared food from a restaurant to eat elsewhere: To purchase food for consumption off the premises.
   • To escort someone socially, especially on a date: To invite someone to go out, typically for entertainment or a meal.
   • To exclude or omit something: To prevent something from being included.

Usage and Examples

• Removing something:

  • Please take out the trash.
  • The dentist will take out the damaged tooth.
  • She took a book out of her bag.

• Obtaining something officially:

  • He went to the town hall to take out a building permit.
  • They decided to take out an insurance policy on their new car.

• Buying prepared food:

  • Let's take out Chinese food for dinner tonight.
  • I'm too tired to cook; I'll just take out a pizza.

• Inviting someone socially (on a date):

  • He finally got the courage to take her out for coffee.
  • They've been taking each other out for months.

• Excluding something:

  • Take out any unnecessary details to make the report clearer.

Advanced Usage

• "take it out on (someone)": To unfairly direct one's anger, frustration, or stress onto another person.

  • Just because you had a bad day at work, don't take it out on me.

• "take out a loan": To borrow a sum of money from a bank or financial institution.

  • They had to take out a loan to pay for their daughter's university tuition.

Variants and Related Words

• Takeout/Take-out (noun): Food that is cooked and sold by a restaurant to be eaten elsewhere.
  • We ordered takeout from the new Italian place.
• Takeout/Take-out (adjective): Describing food meant to be eaten off the premises.
  • a takeout container; the takeout menu

Synonyms

• Remove: to move or take something away from a position.
• Extract: to carefully remove or obtain something, often with effort.
• Withdraw: to remove money from an account or to take something back.
• Exclude: to deliberately not include something.
• Buy: to acquire something by paying for it (specific to the food context).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Take out on: (see "Advanced Usage" above).
• Take out against: (Less common) To secure an official order, like an injunction, against someone or something.
  • The company took out an injunction against the protestors.

Related Idioms

• Take the sting out of (something): To make an unpleasant experience less painful or severe.
  • Her kind words took the sting out of the criticism.
• Take a leaf out of someone's book: To imitate or follow someone's example because they are successful.
  • You should take a leaf out of your sister's book and start studying more seriously.

Verb

1. prevent from being included or considered or accepted
   • The bad results were excluded from the report
   • Leave off the top piece
2. take out of a literary work in order to cite or copy
3. buy and consume food from a restaurant or establishment that sells prepared food
   • We'll take out pizza, since I am too tired to cook
4. remove, usually with some force or effort; also used in an abstract sense
   • pull weeds
   • extract a bad tooth
   • take out a splinter
   • extract information from the telegram
5. take liquid out of a container or well
   • She drew water from the barrel
6. bring, take, or pull out of a container or from under a cover
   • draw a weapon
   • pull out a gun
   • The mugger pulled a knife on his victim
7. remove (a commodity) from (a supply source)
   • She drew $2,000 from the account
   • The doctors drew medical supplies from the hospital's emergency bank
8. purchase prepared food to be eaten at home
9. remove something from a container or an enclosed space
10. make a date
    • Has he asked you out yet?
11. obtain by legal or official process
    • take out a license
    • take out a patent
12. take out or remove
    • take out the chicken after adding the vegetables
13. remove from its packing
    • unpack the presents
14. cause to leave
    • The teacher took the children out of the classroom