check out

B1 · Intermediate Informal

phr.v. to look at someone or something because they seem interesting, attractive, or important.

phr.v. to examine, inspect, or observe something or someone, often to assess quality or out of curiosity.

“You should check out that new café on the corner; the coffee is great.”

“The marketing team spent the afternoon checking out the competitor's new flagship store to identify potential gaps in their own retail strategy.”

B1 · Intermediate

phr.v. to pay for your goods at a supermarket or an online shop.

phr.v. to complete a commercial transaction by paying for selected items, either at a physical counter or a digital interface.

“I had finished my shopping and was waiting to check out at the counter.”

“The e-commerce platform was redesigned to allow customers to check out more efficiently, reducing the rate of abandoned shopping carts.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Informal

phr.v. to be found true or correct after someone investigates the facts.

phr.v. to be confirmed as accurate or consistent upon investigation or comparison with known facts.

“The police looked into his story and everything seemed to check out.”

“Although the suspect provided a detailed alibi, the detectives found that several key timestamps did not check out when compared to CCTV footage.”

C1 · Advanced Informal

phr.v. to stop listening or caring about what is happening because you are bored or tired.

phr.v. to become mentally disengaged or uncooperative in a situation, often due to exhaustion or lack of interest.

“The meeting was so long that I completely checked out after the first hour.”

“By the third day of the conference, many attendees had clearly checked out, preferring to check their emails rather than participate in the workshops.”

C1 · Advanced Computing Technical

phr.v. to take a file out of a shared system so you can work on it.

phr.v. to obtain a specific version of source code or documentation from a repository for modification, preventing conflicting edits.

“Make sure you check out the latest version of the file before you start editing.”

“The developer checked out the main branch to begin implementing the security patch, ensuring no other team members were currently modifying the same modules.”