English Reference
Adjective

outbound

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US /ˈaʊtˌbaʊnd/ UK /aʊtbˈaʊnd/ out·bound

adj.describing something that is leaving a place or going away from a center. You use this for things like flights, calls, or data that are moving out.

adj.moving away from a central point or destination; leaving a location. Often used in technical contexts to describe data traffic or in logistics to describe shipments.


SIMPLE

The airline handles all outbound flights from the city.

CONTEXTUAL

The company's outbound call center processes hundreds of customer service requests every hour.

COMPLEX

The network administrator monitored the outbound traffic to ensure that no sensitive data was being transmitted to unauthorized external servers during the night.

So, if you booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket refunded.

BBC News· 9 Sept 2026

From out- + bound.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Occasional
Updated