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\ ˈau̇t 
\
\Definition of out
(Entry 1 of 6)
1a(1) : in a direction away from the inside or center went out into the garden
(2) : outside it's raining out
b : from among others
c : away from the shore
d : away from home or work out to lunch
e : away from a particular place
2a : so as to be missing or displaced from the usual or proper place left a word out threw his shoulder out
b : into the possession or control of another lend out money
c : into a state of loss or defeat was voted out
d : into a state of vexation they do not mark me, and that brings me out— William Shakespeare
e : into groups or shares sorted out her notes parceled out the farm
3a : to the point of depletion, extinction, or exhaustion the food ran out turn the light out all tuckered out
b : to completion or satisfaction hear me out work the problem out
c : to the full or a great extent or degree all decked out stretched out on the floor
4a : in or into the open the sun came out
b : out loud cried out
c : in or into public circulation the evening paper isn't out yet hand out pamphlets the library book is still out
5a : at an end before the day is out
b : in or into an insensible or unconscious state she was out cold
c : in or into a useless state landed the plane with one engine out
d : so as to end the offensive turn of another player, a side, or oneself in baseball threw him out fly out
6 —used on a two-way radio circuit to indicate that a message is complete and no reply is expected
out
verbouted; outing; outs
Definition of out (Entry 2 of 6)
1 : to identify (someone) publicly as being such secretly Ever feel as if your achievements are a fluke or that you're one conversation away from being outed as a fraud?— Gillian Fox Foster … was the man who outed the journalist Joe Klein as the author of the novel "Primary Colors."— Walter Kirn especially : to reveal the covert sexual orientation or gender identity of (someone) outed her to her coworkers In our case, a cross-section of writers and editors—male and female, gay and straight—agreed that it would be inappropriate to "out" this Pentagon official. — Richard Goldstein
2 : to become publicly known the truth will out Murder will out.
3 : to put out : to eject (someone) from a place, office, or possession : expel During the suppression, we privately kept outed vicars as chaplains and attended secret Anglican services …— Rose Macaulay
out
prepositionDefinition of out (Entry 3 of 6)
—used as a function word to indicate an outward movementran out the doorlooked out the window
out
adjectiveDefinition of out (Entry 4 of 6)
1a : situated outside : external
b : out-of-bounds
2 : situated at a distance : outlying the out islands
3 : not being in power
4 : absent
5 : removed by the defense from play as a batter or base runner in a baseball inning two men out
6 : directed outward or serving to direct something outward the out basket
7 : not being in vogue or fashion
8 : not to be considered : out of the question
9 : determined sense 1 was out to get revenge
10 : engaged in or attempting a particular activity won on his first time out
11 : having one's LGBTQ sexual orientation or gender identity publicly known an out trans person wasn't out during college
out
nounDefinition of out (Entry 5 of 6)
1 : outside
2 : one who is out of office or power or on the outside a matter of outs versus ins
3a : an act or instance of putting a player out or of being put out in baseball
b : a player that is put out
4 : a way of escaping from an embarrassing or difficult situation
on the outs
: on unfriendly terms : at variance
out-
prefixDefinition of out- (Entry 6 of 6)
: in a manner that exceeds or surpasses and sometimes overpowers or defeats outmaneuver
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Synonyms & Antonyms for out
Synonyms: Adverb
Synonyms: Verb
Synonyms: Adjective
- bent (on or upon),
- bound,
- decisive,
- determined,
- do-or-die,
- firm,
- hell-bent (on or upon),
- intent,
- purposeful,
- resolute,
- resolved,
- set,
- single-minded
Synonyms: Noun
- avoidance,
- cop-out,
- dodging,
- ducking,
- eluding,
- elusion,
- escape,
- eschewal,
- eschewing,
- evasion,
- shaking,
- shunning
Antonyms: Adverb
Antonyms: Adjective
- faltering,
- hesitant,
- indecisive,
- irresolute,
- undetermined,
- unresolved,
- vacillating,
- wavering,
- weak-kneed
Examples of out in a Sentence
Adverb He went out to the garden. He looked out at the snow. She poured the tea out. The girl stuck her tongue out. His shirttail was hanging out. I heard a noise in the bushes and out jumped a cat! He waited out in the hall. I cleaned my car inside and out. A car pulled up and two men got out. He grabbed his coat and out he went. Verb a gay actor who was outed in a magazine article He is threatening to out other players who have used steroids. Adjective he's out to get even with the guy who beat him last time around half the staff is out with the flu Noun The play resulted in an out. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, he hit a home run to win the game. He changed the wording of the contract to give himself an out.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb Starting goalkeeper Adrianna Franch suffered a knee injury this week and will be out for the entire tournament. — oregonlive, "New-look Thorns ready to (finally) get started: ‘We are so grateful we have a chance to play in a game this weekend’," 26 June 2020 Stone has been out on bail since Jackson sentenced him in February and denied his request for a new trial in mid-April. — Washington Post, "Roger Stone ordered to report to prison July 14, as judge denies request for two-month delay," 26 June 2020 The days are long, school is out and the sun is shining — but the summer of 2020 is far from ordinary. — Courtney Astolfi, cleveland, "How are you spending your coronavirus summer? Cleveland.com wants to know," 25 June 2020 Adding hazy skies to the equation could make for a more colorful sunset, but that depends on if the sun is out, Koch said. — Brooke Kemp, The Indianapolis Star, "A dust storm from the Sahara Desert will impact Indiana. Here's how.," 25 June 2020 We’re not supposed to be out at restaurants right now; we just got reminded again this morning. — Aric Jenkins, Fortune, "Q&A: PGA golfer Troy Merritt on golf returning as one of the first live sports on television," 25 June 2020 The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is strongly urging the public to wear face masks -- especially now that states have reopened, more people are out in public and new Covid-19 hospitalizations are surging in many areas. — Holly Yan, CNN, "Why face mask guidance has changed so much -- and how wearing masks can protect the economy," 25 June 2020 More than 75 volunteers were out Tuesday, rotating between old polling sites and offering free rides, said Shauntrice Martin, a volunteer organizer for Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. — Savannah Eadens, The Courier-Journal, "How a grassroots effort helped get West End voters to Louisville's only polling place," 24 June 2020 The Confederate flags were out in protest on Sunday, and then the noose was left for Wallace after most everyone had left for the day. — Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, "Historic day for Bubba Wallace pushes NASCAR forward," 23 June 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Texas Christian University responded to a Tweet about a student who’s been outed as a racist. — Essence Staff, Essence, "Skai Jackson: 'I'm Trying To Expose As Many Racists As I Can Today'," 5 June 2020 That detail, coupled with the already-publicly available information about the man's age, district of residence, and movements, meant that the media had effectively outed him, potentially putting his employment at risk. — Jake Kwon And Julia Hollingsworth, CNN, "Virus outbreak linked to Seoul clubs popular with LGBT community stokes homophobia," 12 May 2020 The National Human Rights Commission of Korea issued a statement calling for stronger measures to protect individuals from being outed. — Max S. Kim, The New Yorker, "Seoul’s Radical Experiment in Digital Contact Tracing," 17 Apr. 2020 This year was the first time those scenes had a real storyline, with Gene potentially being outed as the fugitive Goodman. — James Hibberd, EW.com, "Better Call Saul vs. Breaking Bad: We decide which is better," 15 Apr. 2020 His relationship with Margaret was outed by a tabloid. — Emma Dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Who Is Roddy Llewellyn? Everything You Need to Know About Princess Margaret's Boyfriend," 23 Nov. 2019 Coronavirus is outing the world’s largest economy as home to a toxic for-profit public health system. — Richard Morgan, Fortune, "Coronavirus panic isn’t just fear and hate, it also cloaks business as usual at Chinese restaurants," 12 Mar. 2020 Further Reading Potential Half-Life 3 plot outed by series writer Marc LaidlawWalker's discussion of the current makeup of the Half-Life: Alyx team is important to note here. — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, "Valve: Half-Life: Alyx is “not the end” of the franchise," 4 Mar. 2020 The #MeToo movement gathered momentum because publicly outing their harassers was the only recourse women in Hollywood had. — Diana Falzone, Good Housekeeping, "An NDA Keeps Me From Telling My Full Story, But It Won't Stop Me From Helping Other Women," 20 Feb. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Preposition Frampton points out that family members can spot troubling signs in residents more quickly than staff members, who may be rotating through shifts and not well acquainted with certain residents. — Will Englund, Washington Post, "In some states, families can start visiting nursing homes again," 27 June 2020 Because much of the viral replication happens early in the disease, kinase inhibitors are more likely to work as an early intervention, Schaletzky points out. — Gregory Barber, Wired, "Old Drugs Could Reveal a New Way to Attack the Coronavirus," 27 June 2020 And Zelinsky points out the state has even refused to provide tax exemptions for medical workers who came to the state to assist with the COVID-19 emergency—including many nurses from Tennessee, where there is no income tax at all. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, "Coronavirus telecommuters could face a tax nightmare," 27 June 2020 Alabama, by state order, still limits social gatherings, still requires employees of restaurants and other businesses to wear masks, and still encourages masking for anyone going out in public. — Dennis Pillion | Dpillion@al.com, al, "Gov. Ivey weighs extending Safer at Home order for Alabama," 27 June 2020 Some experts say a big contributing factor: This group too often appears to be socializing or going out without maintaining proper physical distancing or wearing masks. — oregonlive, "2 new deaths as known cases near 7,500: Coronavirus in Oregon," 26 June 2020 Stewart, who is African American, points out that the film's Black cast members were barred from its Atlanta premiere because of Georgia's Jim Crow segregation laws at the time. — Chris Isidore, CNN, "'Gone with the Wind' returns to HBO Max ... with a disclaimer," 25 June 2020 There and in states like Florida, Texas and Arizona, young people have started going out again, many without masks, in what health experts see as irresponsible behavior. — Carla K. Johnson, Tamara Lush, Anchorage Daily News, "Virus cases surge among younger Americans, endangering them and older adults they come into contact with," 25 June 2020 Kissing, Felicia points out, was not a part of the job, even before the pandemic. — Ciara Nugent, Time, "Why Amsterdam's Red Light District May Not Survive the Coronavirus Pandemic," 24 June 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective In this scenario, enough Hoosiers wear masks and social distance to keep the numbers to a dull roar rather than an all-out scream. — Shari Rudavsky, The Indianapolis Star, "Some states are seeing coronavirus cases skyrocket. We're not. At least not yet. Why?," 29 June 2020 In 2013, Torres became the first out LGBT person ever elected in the Bronx. — Madeleine Carlisle, Time, "'This Has Been a Long Time Coming.' Two New York Candidates Now Poised to Become First Openly Gay Black, Afro-Latino Men in Congress," 24 June 2020 But don't expect to see these far-out ideas in stores anytime soon. — Vince Beiser, Wired, "5 Weird Concepts to (Theoretically) Supercharge Mask Fabrics," 23 June 2020 This season is going to look unlike any other, a flat-out sprint from start to finish. — Dallas News, "What’s next for MLB? Evan Grant answers questions about a season unlike any other and what it means for the Rangers," 23 June 2020 Every once in a blue moon, fashion lovers are treated to the kind of all-out, mega-savings event that can make even the most seasoned shopper stop dead in their tracks. — Shayna Murphy, USA TODAY, "Tory Burch's Semi-Annual Sale has finally arrived—here's what to know," 17 June 2020 The youth was newly arrived and in quarantine at the unnamed facility when tested and is being housed in an out-patient medical unit, according to the CDCR website. — Chronicle Staff, SFChronicle.com, "Coronavirus news from the Bay Area: June 14-15," 16 June 2020 On the one hand, some analysts maintain that the mood of the past few weeks on Wall Street had rapidly swung from thoughts of an all-out economic collapse to an amazing level of euphoria in less than three months. — Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, "Wall Street plunges amid fear of economic fallout, COVID-19 spikes," 11 June 2020 If there’s a violation, each use should be examined separately and not result in a flat-out ban on the riot-control gas, Sheffield said. — oregonlive, "Lawyer for Don’t Shoot Portland suggests police should retreat, not use tear gas; city argues plenty of limits already in place," 10 June 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The state of emergency expanded access to telehealth services, allowed restaurants to offer take-out and delivery alcohol services, and eased access to unemployment benefits. — Joshua Bote, USA TODAY, "17 states are pausing reopening plans as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations surge. See the list.," 30 June 2020 Reds pitcher Wayne Granger got Bobby Bonds to hit a grounder to the mound for the final out. — Jeff Suess, Cincinnati.com, "Last game at Crosley Field 50 years ago added to the memories," 22 June 2020 One liability of the layout is an unnaturally high floor, which demands an athletic climb into the cab and provides a low-seat, feet-straight-out driving position that feels odd at first. — Kevin Smith, Car and Driver, "Seven 1990 SUVs Tested: Ford vs. GMC vs. Isuzu vs. Jeep vs. Mitsubishi vs. Nissan vs. Toyota," 22 June 2020 Those include bringing your own food and drinks to a cook-out, waving to people instead of hugging, sanitizing hands after using an ATM and taking the stairs instead of a hotel elevator. — Janet Shamlian, CBS News, "Houston weighs another lockdown as coronavirus cases surge," 13 June 2020 With the help from a call-out at ESSENCE along with unsatisfied supporters on Twitter, the article was later taken down. — Nandi Howard, Essence, "Luxury Label Hanifa Signs With The Hinton Group," 12 June 2020 Cathay Pacific received a HK$39bn ($5bn) bail-out led by the government of Hong Kong, which will end up with a 6.1% stake in the airline. — The Economist, "Business this week," 11 June 2020 On April 27, 1962, while members of the Nation were delivering clothes from the dry cleaner to their mosque, two white police officers who were on a stake-out approached the men, believing the clothes were stolen. — Arica L. Coleman, Time, "A Plan to Take the George Floyd Case to the U.N. Highlights a Decades-Old Tension Between Civil Rights and Human Rights," 10 June 2020 In choosing roles, Dillon flat-out refuses to entertain one-dimensional nonbinary characters, or nonbinary roles that solely focus on trials and tribulations centered on the person’s gender. — NBC News, "How gender-nonconforming actors are changing Hollywood," 8 June 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'out.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for out
out
adverbEnglish Language Learners Definition of out
(Entry 1 of 5)
: in a direction away from the inside or center of something
: in or to a place outside of something (such as a building, room, etc.)
: away from home or work
out
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of out (Entry 2 of 5)
: to tell people that (someone) is a homosexual
: to tell people that (someone) is or does a particular thing
: to become publicly known
out
prepositionEnglish Language Learners Definition of out (Entry 3 of 5)
chiefly US
—used to indicate that a person or animal is looking at something that is outside of a building, room, etc.
—used to indicate that a person or animal is moving from the inside of a building, room, etc., to the outside
out
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of out (Entry 4 of 5)
baseball : the act of causing a player to be out or the situation that exists when a player has been put out
: a way of avoiding an embarrassing or difficult situation
out-
prefixEnglish Language Learners Definition of out- (Entry 5 of 5)
: in a manner that is greater, better, or more than something else
See the full definition for out- in the English Language Learners Dictionary
out
adverb\ ˈau̇t \
\Kids Definition of out
(Entry 1 of 5)
1 : in a direction away from the inside, center, or surface The boy looked out at the snow.
2 : away from home, business, or the usual or proper place I went out for lunch.
3 : so as to be used up, completed, or discontinued Our food supply ran out. The patient filled the form out. He blew the candle out.
4 : so as to be missing or moved from the usual or proper place You left a comma out.
5 : in or into the open The sun came out in the afternoon.
6 : aloud The dog cried out in pain.
7 : beyond control or possession She promised not to let the secret out.
8 : so as to be or make unsuccessful in reaching base in baseball Our catcher threw the runner out.
out
prepositionKids Definition of out (Entry 2 of 5)
1 : outward through The boy looked out the window.
2 : outward on or along We drove out the road by the river.
out of
1 : from the inside to the outside of : not in I walked out of the room. They are out of town.
2 : beyond the limits or range of The bird flew out of sight. The patient is out of danger.
3 : because of They obeyed out of fear.
4 : in a group of I only got one out of five right.
5 : without entry 1 sense 2 The store is out of bread.
6 : from sense 3 We made a table out of some boxes.
out
adjectiveKids Definition of out (Entry 3 of 5)
1 : no longer in power or use The lights are out.
2 : no longer continuing or taking place The fire is out. School is out.
3 : not confined : not concealed or covered The secret is out. The sun is out.
4 : absent sense 1 I can't use a basket with its bottom out. The teacher is out today.
5 : located outside or at a distance The island is 20 miles out.
6 : being no longer at bat and not successful in reaching base
7 : no longer in fashion
8 : out-of-bounds
out
nounKids Definition of out (Entry 4 of 5)
: the act of causing a baseball player to be unsuccessful in reaching base
out-
prefixKids Definition of out-
: in a manner that goes beyond outnumber outrun
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Time Traveler for out
The first known use of out was before the 12th century
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