ENGLISH
REFERENCE

out

n. place
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈaʊt// UK //ˈaʊt// out Archaic General-service Humorous Informal Slang

n. means not in a particular place, especially not at home or work. It can also mean that something has appeared or become available, like a new book or movie.

n. indicates movement away from or a position not inside a particular place, such as a building or one's home. It also signifies that something has been released or made public.


SIMPLE

She is out for the evening.

CONTEXTUAL

The company's latest smartphone is out next month, and pre-orders are already high.

COMPLEX

The secret was finally out, spreading through the hushed corridors of power and irrevocably changing the political landscape for everyone involved.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

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”).

Usage

Functions as an adverb of place or as a particle in numerous phrasal verbs (e.g., 'find out', 'work out').

Pitfall

He walked out the room.He walked out of the room.When indicating movement from inside a container or space, 'out' requires the preposition 'of'.

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