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cheap out

British

verb

informal (intr, adverb) to take the cheapest option; try to do something as cheaply as possible

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We definitely did not cheap out at the end.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026

PowerA omitted impulse trigger rumble, but if there’s any feature to cheap out on, I’d say that’s the right choice.

From The Verge • May 25, 2022

Because this is a major investment, it’s best not to cheap out and hire someone off Craigslist, Shipwash says.

From Washington Post • Jan. 11, 2022

The proposal is scalable, but the approach should not cheap out when the needs run so deep.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 6, 2021

I believe living is cheap out there, and if I buy three or four mules I shall then have to pay only the wages for the muleteers, and the expenses of living.

From The Treasure of the Incas by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023