diff --git a/algebird-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/algebird/Take.scala b/algebird-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/algebird/Take.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d46833007
--- /dev/null
+++ b/algebird-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/algebird/Take.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2013 Twitter, Inc.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+package com.twitter.algebird
+
+object TakeState {
+  def apply[T](item: T): TakeState[T] = TakeState(item, false)
+}
+
+case class TakeState[+T](item: T, emitted: Boolean)
+
+/** Assumes you put the old item on the left
+ * To get the normal List.take behavior, use this with the Last semigroup:
+ * e.g. val sg = new TakeSemigroup[Last[T]](100)
+ */
+class TakeSemigroup[T](count: Long)(implicit sgT: Semigroup[T]) extends TakeWhileSemigroup[(T, Long)] {
+  assert(count > 0, "TakeSemigroup only makes sense if you take at least one")
+  def isDone(item: (T, Long)) = {
+    val (l, cnt) = item
+    (cnt > count)
+  }
+}
+
+object TakeWhileSemigroup {
+  def apply[T](fn: T => Boolean)(implicit sg: Semigroup[T]): TakeWhileSemigroup[T] =
+    new TakeWhileSemigroup()(sg) {
+      def isDone(item: T) = !fn(item)
+    }
+}
+/** Assumes you put the old item on the left
+ *
+ * To get a threshold, use a sum and takeWhile:
+ * val sg = new TakeWhileSemigroup[Long](_ < 10000L)
+ * sg.sumOption(items: List[Long]).collect{case TakeState(t, false) => t}
+ *
+ * NOTE: for this to be a valid semigroup (and get the desired properties on parallelism)
+ * you need isDone to have the property that
+ * if isDone(a) || isDone(b) then isDone(a+b)
+ * so, isDone is monotonic in adding the valid elements of T is the Semigroup[T].
+ */
+abstract class TakeWhileSemigroup[T](implicit sgT: Semigroup[T]) extends Semigroup[TakeState[T]] {
+  /**
+   * given and item, are we done taking, and if so emit a normalized value
+   */
+  def isDone(item: T): Boolean
+
+  def plus(left: TakeState[T], right: TakeState[T]): TakeState[T] = {
+    val TakeState(t2, b2) = left
+    val TakeState(t1, b1) = right
+    val nextT = sgT.plus(t2, t1)
+    TakeState(nextT, b2 || b1 || isDone(nextT))
+  }
+}
+
diff --git a/algebird-test/src/test/scala/com/twitter/algebird/CombinatorTest.scala b/algebird-test/src/test/scala/com/twitter/algebird/CombinatorTest.scala
index 1a97b275a..b863f4994 100644
--- a/algebird-test/src/test/scala/com/twitter/algebird/CombinatorTest.scala
+++ b/algebird-test/src/test/scala/com/twitter/algebird/CombinatorTest.scala
@@ -76,4 +76,44 @@ object CombinatorTest extends Properties("Combinator") {
     }
   property("MonoidCombinator with top-K forms a Monoid") = monoidLaws[(Map[Int, Int],Set[Int])]
 
+
+  /**
+   * Threshold crossing logic can also be done with one sum on
+   * the following combined Semigroup:
+   */
+  property("Threshold combinator works") = {
+    val threshold = 10000L
+
+    implicit val orSemi = Semigroup.from[Boolean](_ || _)
+    implicit val andSemi = Semigroup.from[Option[Boolean]] { (l, r) =>
+      (l, r) match {
+        case (None, _) => r
+        case (_, None) => l
+        case (Some(lb), Some(rb)) => Some(lb && rb)
+      }
+    }
+    implicit val thresh: Semigroup[(Long, (Boolean, Option[Boolean]))] =
+      new SemigroupCombinator({ (sum: Long, doneCross: (Boolean, Option[Boolean])) =>
+        val (done, cross) = doneCross
+        if(done) (true, Some(false))
+        else {
+          // just crossed
+          if(sum >= threshold && doneCross._2.isEmpty) (true, Some(true))
+          else (false, None) // not yet crossed
+        }
+      })
+    semigroupLaws[(Long, (Boolean, Option[Boolean]))] && {
+    // thresholds could be implemented as so:
+    //
+      def sumCrosses(l: List[Long], t: Long) =
+        !(l.scanLeft(0L)(_ + _).filter( _ >= t).isEmpty)
+      forAll { (t: List[Long]) =>
+        sumCrosses(t, threshold) ==
+          (Semigroup.sumOption((0L :: t).map { (_, (false, None:Option[Boolean])) })
+             .headOption
+             .map { _._2._1 }
+             .getOrElse(false))
+      }
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/algebird-test/src/test/scala/com/twitter/algebird/TakeTest.scala b/algebird-test/src/test/scala/com/twitter/algebird/TakeTest.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9f3fb6976
--- /dev/null
+++ b/algebird-test/src/test/scala/com/twitter/algebird/TakeTest.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2013 Twitter, Inc.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package com.twitter.algebird
+
+import org.scalacheck.Arbitrary
+import org.scalacheck.Properties
+import org.scalacheck.Prop.forAll
+import org.scalacheck.Gen.oneOf
+import org.scalacheck.Gen
+
+import scala.annotation.tailrec
+
+object TakeTest extends Properties("TakeSemigroup") {
+  import BaseProperties._
+
+  implicit def arbTake[T](implicit tarb: Arbitrary[T]): Arbitrary[TakeState[(T, Long)]] = Arbitrary( for {
+    s <- tarb.arbitrary
+    c <- Gen.choose(0L, 100000L)
+    b <- Gen.oneOf(true, false)
+  } yield TakeState((s, c), b))
+
+  implicit def takeSemi[T:Semigroup] = new TakeSemigroup[T](100)
+
+  implicit def arbLast[T](implicit tarb: Arbitrary[T]): Arbitrary[Last[T]] =
+    Arbitrary(tarb.arbitrary.map(Last(_)))
+
+  property("Take is a semigroup") = semigroupLaws[TakeState[(Last[Int], Long)]]
+  property("Take while summing is a semigroup") = semigroupLaws[TakeState[(Int, Long)]]
+
+  def take[T](t: List[T], cnt: Long): List[T] = {
+    implicit val takes: Semigroup[TakeState[(Last[T], Long)]] = new TakeSemigroup[Last[T]](cnt)
+    t.map(item => Option(TakeState((Last(item), 1L))))
+      .scanLeft(None: Option[TakeState[(Last[T], Long)]])(Monoid.plus[Option[TakeState[(Last[T], Long)]]](_, _))
+      .collect { case Some(TakeState((Last(item), _), false)) => item }
+  }
+
+  property("Take works as expected") = forAll { (t: List[Int]) =>
+    val posCnt = Gen.choose(1, 2 * t.size + 2).sample.get
+    t.take(posCnt) == take(t, posCnt)
+  }
+
+  implicit val arbTakeD: Arbitrary[TakeState[BigInt]] =
+    Arbitrary(Arbitrary.arbitrary[BigInt].map(b => TakeState(b.abs)))
+
+  implicit val threshold: Semigroup[TakeState[BigInt]] = TakeWhileSemigroup[BigInt](_ < 100L)
+  property("Takewhile sum < 100 is a semigroup") = semigroupLaws[TakeState[BigInt]]
+}