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REFERENCE

outside job

idiom
Meaning

A crime or other illicit action committed by an individual not connected or associated with the premises or organization in which it took place.


Origin

disputed origin

From outside + job, by analogy with inside job.

Examples
SIMPLE

The police believe the robbery was an outside job.

CONTEXTUAL

Security footage showed a stranger entering the building, confirming that the theft was an outside job.

COMPLEX

The investigators concluded that the sophisticated breach of the firm's digital vault was undoubtedly an outside job, given the lack of internal access logs.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    don't give up your day job

    Somewhat sarcastic but usually good-natured advice used to criticise a person's degree of talent (especially in music or other performing arts), implying that they are unlikely to be successful.

  2. 02

    full-time job

    An activity that consumes a great deal of time.

  3. 03

    good job

    Well done; congratulations!

  4. 04

    great job

    well done; congratulations! (a praise for someone's efforts, possibly to a higher degree than good job!)

  5. 05

    inside job

    A crime or other illicit action committed by or with the assistance of someone either having a relationship with a victim or entrusted with access to the victim's affairs and premises.

  6. 06

    joe job

    An uninteresting, low-level, low-paying job.

  7. 07

    patience of Job

    A great amount of patience.

  8. 08

    put-up job

    An attempt to trick, deceive, or con someone.

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