takeoff

noun

1. a taking or setting off; the leaving of the ground, as in leaping or in beginning a flight in an airplane.
2. a taking off from a starting point, as in beginning a race.
3. the place or point at which a person or thing takes off.
4. a humorous or satirical imitation; burlesque.
5. Machinery. a shaft geared to a main shaft for running auxiliary machinery.
6. a branch connection to a pipe, electric line, etc.

n.also take-off, “caricature,” colloquial, 1846, from earlier sense of “thing that detracts from something, drawback” (1826), from take (v.) + off. Meaning “act of becoming airborne” is from 1904 in reference to aircraft; in reference to jumping, it is attested from 1869.