out

 
Pronunciation: /aʊt/

adverb

  • 1moving or appearing to move away from a particular place, especially one that is enclosed or hidden: he walked out into the street watch the stars come out
  • situated or operating in the open air, away from buildings: the search-and-rescue team have been out looking for you
  • no longer detained in prison: they would be out on bail in no time
  • 2situated far or at a particular distance from somewhere: an old farmhouse right out in the middle of nowhere they lived eight miles out of town a cold front hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic
  • to sea, away from the land: the Persian fleet put out from Cyprus
  • (of the tide) falling or at its lowest level: the tide was going out
  • indicating a specified distance away from the goal line or finishing line: he scored from 70 metres out
  • 3away from home: he’s gone out
  • in or to a public place for purposes of pleasure or entertainment: an evening out at a restaurant
  • 4so as to be revealed or known: find out what you can
  • aloud; so as to be heard: Miss Beard cried out in horror
  • 5at or to an end: the romance fizzled out
  • so as to be finished or complete: I’ll leave them to fight it out I typed out the poem
  • in various other completive uses: the crowd had thinned out he crossed out a word
  • 6(of a light or fire) so as to be extinguished or no longer burning: at ten o’clock the lights went out
  • (of a stain or mark) no longer visible; removed: try and get the stain out
  • 7no longer involved in a situation, competition, or activity: Oxford United are out of the FA Cup

preposition

  • non-standard contraction of out of he ran out the door

adjective

[predic.]
  • 1not at home or at one’s place of work: if he called, she’d pretend to be out
  • 2revealed or made public: the secret was soon out
  • published: the book should be out before the end of the month
  • informal in existence or use: it works as well as any system that’s out
  • (of a jury) considering its verdict in secrecy.
  • dated (of a young upper-class woman) introduced into society: where is the use of having a lot of dresses when she isn’t out yet?
  • open about one’s homosexuality: I had been out since I was 17
  • 3no longer alight; extinguished: the fire was nearly out
  • 4at an end: school was out for the summer
  • informal no longer in fashion: grunge is out
  • 5not possible or worth considering: a trip to the seaside is out for a start
  • 6in a state of unconsciousness.
  • Boxing unable to rise from the floor.
  • 7mistaken; in error: he was slightly out in his calculations
  • 8(of the ball in tennis and similar games) outside the designated playing area.
  • 9 Cricket & Baseball no longer batting or at bat; having had one’s innings or at bat ended by the fielding side: England were all out for 159
  • 10(of a flower) in bloom; open.

noun

  • 1 informal a way of escaping from a problem or dilemma: he was desperately looking for an out
  • 2 Baseball an act of putting a player out.
  • 3 (the outs) the political party not in office.

verb

[with object]
  • 1knock (someone) out.
  • 2 informal reveal the homosexuality of (a prominent person).
  • 3West Indian extinguish: out the lamp when you’re ready
  • 4 dated expel, reject, or dismiss: they had outed Asquith quite easily

Phrases

at outs (North American on the outs)

in dispute: you were at outs with my uncle Ned

not out

Cricket (of a side or batsman) having begun an innings and not been dismissed: Hussain scored 89 not out as Essex won by three wickets

out and about

engaging in normal activity after an illness.

out for

intent on having: he was out for a good time

out of

  • 1indicating the source or derivation of something; from: a bench fashioned out of a fallen tree trunk I get a lot of enjoyment out of teaching
  • having (the thing mentioned) as a motivation: he was acting out of spite
  • 2indicating the dam of a pedigree animal, especially a horse.
  • 3from among (a number): nine times out of ten, companies are the source of such information
  • 4not having (a particular thing): they had run out of cash you’re out of luck, mate, there’s none left

out of it

informal
  • 1not included; rejected: I hate feeling out of it
  • 2unaware of what is happening as a result of being uninformed.
  • unable to think or react properly, especially as a result of taking drugs or drinking too much alcohol.

out to do something

keenly striving to do something: they were out to impress

out with it

say what you are thinking.

Origin:

Old English ūt (adverb), ūtian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch uit and German aus

The use of out as a preposition (rather than the standard prepositional phrase out of), as in he threw it out the window, is common in informal contexts, and is standard in American, Australian, and New Zealand English. Traditionalists do not accept it as part of standard British English, however.