check out
- 01 A2 Elementary
to pay your bill and leave a hotel at the end of your stay.
to complete the administrative process of departing from a hotel or similar establishment, typically involving the settlement of accounts.
Simple“We need to check out of the hotel by eleven o'clock tomorrow morning.”
In context“Guests are requested to check out by noon to allow the housekeeping staff sufficient time to prepare the rooms for subsequent arrivals.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'of'.
- 02 B1 Intermediate
to look at someone or something because they seem interesting, attractive, or important.
to examine, inspect, or observe something or someone, often to assess quality or out of curiosity.
Simple“You should check out that new café on the corner; the coffee is great.”
In context“The marketing team spent the afternoon checking out the competitor's new flagship store to identify potential gaps in their own retail strategy.”
UsageTransitive; the object can be placed between 'check' and 'out'.
- 03 B1 Intermediate
to pay for your goods at a supermarket or an online shop.
to complete a commercial transaction by paying for selected items, either at a physical counter or a digital interface.
Simple“I had finished my shopping and was waiting to check out at the counter.”
In context“The e-commerce platform was redesigned to allow customers to check out more efficiently, reducing the rate of abandoned shopping carts.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
to be found true or correct after someone investigates the facts.
to be confirmed as accurate or consistent upon investigation or comparison with known facts.
Simple“The police looked into his story and everything seemed to check out.”
In context“Although the suspect provided a detailed alibi, the detectives found that several key timestamps did not check out when compared to CCTV footage.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
to stop listening or caring about what is happening because you are bored or tired.
to become mentally disengaged or uncooperative in a situation, often due to exhaustion or lack of interest.
Simple“The meeting was so long that I completely checked out after the first hour.”
In context“By the third day of the conference, many attendees had clearly checked out, preferring to check their emails rather than participate in the workshops.”
- 06 C1 Advanced
to take a file out of a shared system so you can work on it.
to obtain a specific version of source code or documentation from a repository for modification, preventing conflicting edits.
Simple“Make sure you check out the latest version of the file before you start editing.”
In context“The developer checked out the main branch to begin implementing the security patch, ensuring no other team members were currently modifying the same modules.”
Contrast this sense with 'check out of a hotel' or 'check out a library book' to show the polysemy of common phrasal verbs.