Entry in progress—B.P.
 
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Main Entry: 1take·down
Pronunciation: \ˈtāk-ˌdau̇n\
Function: noun
Date: 1893
1 : the action or an act of taking down
2 : something (as a rifle) having takedown construction
 
(Oxford English Dictionary)
take-down, (a) an act of taking down (in quot. in sense 82b(d)); (b) (a rifle with) the capacity to have the barrel and magazine detached from the stock; usu. attrib. or as adj.
1893 Westm. Gaz. 12 June 6/3 In the second division [of Cambridge boat-races] as many as six *take-downs were effected, First Trinity III going sandwich boat instead of Christ’s [etc.].
1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 578/2 All rifles of this model can be furnished with pistol grip, with take down and all other extras. ibid. 579/2 No other lengths made in Take Down style.
1901 Kynoch Jrnl. Aug.-Sept. 136/1 This is not a ‘take-down’..but the barrel is detachable in the true sense of the word.
1905 A. M. BINSTEAD Mop Fair vii. 144 There are more takedowns at this game of racing than are suspected.
1906 E. DYSON Fact’ry ‘Ands xi. 143 Well, iv she ain’t a fair take-down!
1920 G. BURRARD Notes Sporting Rifles 15 A rifle on this principle cannot be cleaned from the breech unless it is a take-down model.
1926 J. DOONE Timely Tips for New Australians 19 Take~down, a slang word for thief. A cheat.
1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 31 Jan. 42/2, I could learn something from a cool-headed young take-down like you.
1971 L. KOPPETT N.Y. Times Guide Spectator Sports xix. 240 A ‘takedown’ gives 2 points to the wrestler who puts the other down.
1976 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 16-22 Dec. 7/2 (Advt.), Beautiful supple quality leather take down style gun cover… Barrels and action in separate compartments inside.
1977 Rolling Stone 24 Mar. 67 It survives the knocks and rough handling of countless loadings, unloadings, road bumps, set-ups, and take-downs.
 
New York (NY) Times
In New York, the Taste of Victory
By STEVEN STERN
Published: May 12, 2009
ON Sunday, hundreds lined up outside the Highline Ballroom in Chelsea for the Tofu Takedown, paying $10 each to eat bean curd cooked by amateurs, and vote on their favorite dishes.
 
The crowds were still streaming in when the host, Matt Timms, 35, got on the microphone.
(...)
While the turnout was impressive, it was nothing compared with Mr. Timms’s Bacon Takedown in March, when the crowd at Radegast Hall in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, waited for hours to try 30 dishes. The most recent Chili Takedown — the “flagship” Timms event — was almost as packed.
 
And the Takedowns are not the only game in town. Cook-off mania has taken hold in New York.
 
A dedicated follower could have spent the previous Sunday at the Park Slope Pork-Off, gone to a guacamole competition last Tuesday, then snacked at Monday night’s Cupcake Cook-Off.
 
There’s been a Fondue Takedown, a Risotto Challenge, a Chowder Slam. The East Village beer bar Jimmy’s No. 43 has hosted a Cassoulet Cook-Off; the Williamsburg cooking supply store Brooklyn Kitchen celebrated its second anniversary with an instant noodle recipe contest — a “Ramen-Off.”
 
Most people competing in these events wouldn’t think of signing up for the Pillsbury Bake-Off, the National Chicken Cooking Contest, or any of the other high-stakes national contests. This is a separate world, largely populated by the young and Twitter-fluent. Its rapid growth clearly owes much to the Internet’s social connectivity: the scene has drawn in obsessive home cooks, sustainability enthusiasts and the odd professional or two.
 
Mr. Timms — a sometime actor and sometime filmmaker — wasn’t part of any scene when he started his Takedowns, but he liked hosting parties. And he liked chili. He joined the International Chili Society, the main organization for competitive chili cooking, but found the official events too rigid.
 
So in 2005, he decided to do chili contests his way. His raucous Takedowns, held every few months in New York City bars, haven’t bothered much with rules. Most entries wouldn’t pass muster with a patriotic Texan, let alone meet the standards of competitive chili. A vegetarian chili, made with tempeh, took first prize at a 2007 Takedown. One contestant showed up repeatedly with vats of Talaxian Chili, adapted from the “Star Trek Cookbook.” There was a candy chili, studded with M&M’s and gumdrops. One guy opened a few cans of Hormel, poured in some vodka, and called it a day.