order takeout

Meaning

To 'order takeout' (or 'takeaway' in British English) means to buy prepared food from a restaurant to eat somewhere else, usually at home. It is a highly common neutral term used when you do not want to cook or dine out.

Examples

• I'm too tired to cook tonight, so let's just order takeout.

  I'm too tired to cook tonight, so let's just order takeout.

• We decided to order takeout from our favorite Thai restaurant down the street.

  We decided to order takeout from our favorite Thai restaurant down the street.

• They usually order takeout on Friday nights as a treat.

  They usually order takeout on Friday nights as a treat.

• Is it cheaper to cook at home or order takeout every day?

  Is it cheaper to cook at home or order takeout every day?

• We ordered takeout because the restaurant was completely packed.

  We ordered takeout because the restaurant was completely packed.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ Let's order a takeout pizza.

  ✓ Let's order takeout pizza.

  'Takeout' is often used as an uncountable noun or an adjective. While 'order a takeaway' is common in British English, in American English it is much more natural to say 'order takeout' or 'order a takeout pizza' (where 'pizza' is the countable noun).

• ✗ I want to order outtake for dinner.

  ✓ I want to order takeout for dinner.

  The correct term is 'takeout' (US) or 'takeaway' (UK). An 'outtake' refers to a scene filmed for a movie that is excluded from the final cut.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Since we were busy cleaning the house, we decided to ___.

  💡 Buy food from a restaurant to eat at home.

  Show answer

  order takeout

• What kind of food do you want to ___ tonight? Chinese or Indian?

  💡 Get restaurant food delivered or to-go.

  Show answer

  order takeout