outsource

[out-sawrs, ‑-sohrs]

verb (used with object)

outsourced, outsourcing 

1. (of a company or organization) to purchase (goods) or subcontract (services) from an outside supplier or source.

2. to contract out (jobs, services, etc.).

   a small business that outsources bookkeeping to an accounting firm.

verb (used without object)

outsourced, outsourcing 

1. to obtain goods or services from an outside source.

   U.S. companies who outsource from China.

outsource

/ ˌaʊtˈsɔːs /

verb

1. to subcontract (work) to another company

2. to buy in (components for a product) rather than manufacture them

Other Word Forms

• outsourcing noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of outsource¹

1975–80

Example Sentences

The first $4 trillion firm, Nvidia is a pure design company outsourcing manufacturing, illustrating how 21st century hardware is mostly about ideas, not things.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Indian outsourcing firms say they have scaled back their reliance on H-1Bs and have sought to train and hire more Americans.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

"If someone turns to an LLM every time they're unsure how to respond or feel emotionally exposed, they might start outsourcing their intuition, emotional language, and sense of relational self," says Dr Suglani.

Read more on BBC

Leave it to America, the land of free enterprise if not free speech, to devise a hybrid totalitarianism that outsources the actual implementation of repression to nongovernmental entities.

Read more on Salon

Each decision a person outsources to AI makes them narrower.

Read more on Salon