count out

British  

verb

1. informal to leave out; exclude

   count me out!

2. (of a boxing referee) to judge (a floored boxer) to have failed to recover within the specified time See count 1

3. to count (something) aloud

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count out Idioms  

1. Declare a boxer (or other contestant) to have lost, as in Paul was counted out in the first round . This term alludes to count in the sense of “ten seconds,” the time allowed for a boxer to rise after being knocked down (if he does not rise in time, he is “out”). The earliest recorded use of the term was for a cockfight in 1808; its use for boxing came about a century later. Also see down for the count .

2. Exclude, leave out of consideration, as in As for skiing this winter, you'll have to count me out . [ Colloquial ; mid-1800s] Also see count in .

3. Apportion; also, recalculate. For example, They counted out four pieces of music for each band member , or When Peggy got her change she counted out all the pennies . [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

One smart strategy is to count out six months of expenses and sock that away, then line up more to keep depositing into that account as time rolls forward.

From MarketWatch • May 11, 2026

And don’t count out what got Microsoft here in the first place: its software.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

The kitchen staff used to painstakingly count out the exact right quantity of shrimp for the chain’s fajita platters.

From Slate • Aug. 11, 2025

Manager Dave Roberts says he trusts him to keep taking the mound, and so do I. Like the headline reads, “History says don’t count out Kershaw.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2025

I pry the last Popsicle off the freezer wall, shake the crumbs off the plate, and count out the rest of the saltines.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko