checkout

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   The place in a store where customers pay for the things they are buying.

   Grammar: Often used with at or to: go to the checkout; pay at the checkout.

   Patterns

   • at the checkout
   • go to the checkout
   • the checkout counter

   There was a long line at the checkout.

   Please take your items to the checkout when you are ready to pay.

   The checkout assistant scanned each item quickly.

2. 2noununcountable

   The time by which a guest must leave a hotel room, or the act of leaving at that time.

   Grammar: Usually used without an article: checkout is at eleven; after checkout.

   Patterns

   • checkout is at
   • after checkout
   • late checkout

   Checkout is at eleven o'clock, but you can leave your bags at reception.

   We asked for a late checkout because our flight was in the evening.

   After checkout, we spent an hour in the hotel garden.

Word forms

Common combinations

checkout counter

She placed her groceries on the checkout counter.

checkout line

The checkout line stretched all the way to the back of the store.

express checkout

Use the express checkout if you have fewer than ten items.

hotel checkout

Hotel checkout is at noon.

self-checkout

The store has installed new self-checkout machines.

Synonyms and how they differ

till

In British English, till often means the checkout counter or the drawer where money is kept.

cash register

Cash register is the machine that records sales; checkout is the place where you pay.

point of sale

Point of sale is a business term for the place where a sale is made; checkout is the everyday word.

Word family

check out phrasal verb

To pay for goods and leave a store or hotel.

Commonly confused: checkout or check out?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “checkout”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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