out
- 01 A1 Beginner
adv.moving away from the inside of a place or container.
adv.indicating movement from the interior of a space or container to the exterior.
Simple“She opened the cage and the bird flew out into the garden.”
In context“The crowd poured out of the stadium as soon as the final whistle blew, filling the narrow streets with noise.”
- 02 A1 Beginner
adj.not in the place where you usually stay, like your home or office.
adj.not present in one's usual place of residence or business.
Simple“I called her office, but her secretary said she was out for lunch.”
In context“The manager is currently out on a site visit and is not expected back until late tomorrow afternoon.”
Usageusually follows the verb 'to be'
- 03 A2 Elementary
- 04 A2 Elementary
adj.not burning or not shining anymore.
adj.extinguished or no longer emitting light or heat.
Simple“The campfire was out by the time we woke up the next morning.”
In context“The power went out across the entire city during the thunderstorm, leaving thousands of homes in total darkness.”
Synonyms - 05 B1 Intermediate
adj.being honest and public about being gay, trans, or another LGBTQ+ identity.
adj.open and public regarding one's sexual orientation or gender identity.
Simple“He has been out to his family and friends since he was twenty.”
In context“The documentary explores the challenges faced by athletes who choose to be out in professional sports environments.”
- 06 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to tell people a secret about someone, especially that they are gay, without their permission.
v.to publicly reveal a secret about someone, particularly their sexual orientation, often without their consent.
Simple“The newspaper was criticised for trying to out the politician.”
In context“The activist was accidentally outed by a former classmate in a social media post that quickly went viral.”
Usagetransitive — requires a direct object
- 07 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a way to avoid doing something or to escape a difficult situation.
n.a means of exit, escape, or a convenient excuse to avoid an obligation.
Simple“He was looking for an out so he wouldn't have to go to the party.”
In context“The contract was so poorly written that the company found an easy out when the project became too expensive.”
- 08 B1 Intermediate
n.a situation in a game like baseball where a player must stop playing for that turn.
n.a state in which a player is removed from play according to the rules of the game.
Simple“The pitcher got the final out of the inning with a fast ball.”
In context“With two outs and the bases loaded, the pressure on the young batter was immense.”
Synonyms - 09 B2 Upper Intermediate
interj.a word used on a radio to say you have finished talking and do not expect an answer.
interj.a procedure word used in radio telecommunications to signal the end of a transmission.
Simple“The captain said, 'We are heading home now. Out.'”
In context“The pilot confirmed the coordinates and ended the transmission with a crisp 'Over and out'.”
Teacher's tipExplain to students that 'Over' means 'I am finished but I expect you to reply', while 'Out' means 'I am finished and the conversation is over'.
Antonyms
From Middle English out, oute, from a combination of Old English ūt (“out”, preposition & adverb), from Proto-West Germanic ūt, from Proto-Germanic ūt (“out”); and Old English ūte (“outside; without”, adverb), from Proto-Germanic ūtai (“out; outside”); both from Proto-Indo-European úd (“upwards, away”). Cognates Cognate with Scots oot (“out”), Yola out, outh, udh, ut, uth (“out”), North Frisian üt, ütj (“out”), Saterland Frisian uut (“out of”), West Frisian út (“out”), Cimbrian aus, auz (“out, outwards”), Dutch uit (“out”), German, Luxembourgish aus (“out”), Yiddish אויס (oys, “over, finished”), Danish ud (“out; outside”), Icelandic út (“out”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish ut (“out”), Gothic 𐌿𐍄 (ut, “out of”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
For Mandarin speakers Mandarin phonology does not allow coda consonants other than /n/ and /ŋ/. To preserve the syllable structure, speakers often append a paragogic vowel, producing /aʊtə/ instead of /aʊt/.
出去 (chū qù) means “To go out or exit a space.” — While 'out' is a flexible adverb in English, Mandarin uses directional verbs like '出去 (chū qù)' which incorporate the movement. Learners often omit the main English verb, saying 'I will out' instead of 'I will go out'.
Mandarin indicates the completion of an action using the particle '了 (le)' rather than specific resultative adverbs. This leads learners to omit 'out' in phrasal verbs like 'clean out' or 'sell out', relying solely on tense markers to imply the action is finished.
For Japanese speakers Japanese phonology requires an epenthetic vowel after terminal stops, so the word often becomes /a.ɯ.to/ (autō) with a final /o/ sound.
アウト (auto) means “out (in sports), or 'no good/disqualified'” — In Japanese, 'auto' is frequently used to mean something is socially unacceptable or that a person has failed a test, which is a narrower usage than the English adverb.
Japanese uses the particles 'ni' (に) or 'e' (へ) to show direction, leading speakers to omit 'out' entirely when translating verbs like 'go out' or 'exit' as simply 'deru' (出る).
The Japanese phrase 'soto ni deru' (外に出る) literally means 'exit to the outside', which often results in the redundant English phrasing 'go out to the outside' instead of just 'go out'.