ENGLISH
REFERENCE

book out

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to reserve all the rooms in a hotel or all the seats in a place so that none are left for others.

phr. v.. to reserve a venue, accommodation, or service to its full capacity, rendering it unavailable to other parties.


SIMPLE

The hotel is booked out for the wedding.

CONTEXTUAL

We tried to get a table at the new restaurant, but they were booked out weeks in advance.

COMPLEX

The conference centre was completely booked out by the tech firm, forcing other organizations to seek alternative venues for their annual summits.

Particles
out
Separability
optional
Pattern
book + object + out
Usage

often used in the passive voice ('be booked out') to describe a state of unavailability.

Teaching tip

contrast with 'fully booked' (an adjective phrase) and 'book up' (a near-synonym often used for schedules or time slots); 'book out' is particularly common in British and Australian English.

Pitfall

The hotel is book out.The hotel is booked out.when describing the state of the hotel, you must use the past participle 'booked'.

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