exit

[ eg-zit, ek-sit ]

/ ˈɛg zɪt, ˈɛk sɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exit ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a way or passage out: Please leave the theater by the nearest exit.

any of the marked ramps or spurs providing egress from a highway: Take the second exit after the bridge for the downtown shopping district.

a going out or away; departure: to make one's exit.

a departure of an actor from the stage as part of the action of a play.

Also called exit card. Bridge. a card that enables a player to relinquish the lead when having it is a disadvantage.

verb (used without object)

to go out; leave.

Bridge. to play an exit card.

verb (used with object)

to leave; depart from: Sign out before you exit the building.

Nearby words

Origin of exit

1580–90; partly < Latin exitus act or means of going out, equivalent to exi-, variant stem of exīre to go out (ex- ex-¹ + īre to go) + -tus suffix of v. action; partly noun, v. use of exit²

Can be confusedexcited exited

Definition for exit (2 of 2)

exit

[ eg-zit, ek-sit ]

/ ˈɛg zɪt, ˈɛk sɪt /

verb (used without object)

(he or she) goes offstage (used as a stage direction, often preceding the name of the character): Exit Falstaff.

Origin of exit

1530–40; < Latin ex(i)it literally, (he) goes out, 3rd singular present of exīre; see exit¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for exit

In 2012, Obama narrowly beat Mitt Romney among Florida Cubans, according to exit polls.
Rubio’s Embargo Anger Plays to the Past|Michael Tomasky|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Will these resurrected animals be house-trained and know to exit the pearly gates before doing their business?
Sorry, Internet: Pope Francis Didn't Open Paradise to Pets|Candida Moss|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But not until Gregory Peck is humiliated and walks out do we cut high and long to show his exit.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As you exit your teenage years, are there artist you would like to emulate?
Portrait of the Austin Mahone as a Teen Idol|William O’Connor|December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST

By contrast, in 2012, the military vote split down the middle between Obama and Romney, according to exit polls.
2016 Is No Democratic Slam Dunk|Lloyd Green|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Courtlandt continued toward the exit, his head forward, his gaze bent on the path.
The Place of Honeymoons|Harold MacGrath
Then Mrs. Dunn bethought herself of a way to make their exit less awkward and embarrassing.
Cap'n Warren's Wards|Joseph C. Lincoln
I did not suffer their entrance nor their exit to excite me.
Short Story Classics (American) Vol. 2|Various
Labyrinths of conjecture, with no definite clues for exit, had been entered.
The Columbia River|William Denison Lyman
The roses would better be at or near the entrance or exit, or far enough above the rock work not to ramble over small plants.
Making A Rock Garden|Henry Sherman Adams

British Dictionary definitions for exit (1 of 2)

exit

/ (ˈɛɡzɪt, ˈɛksɪt) /

noun

a way out; door or gate by which people may leave

the act or an instance of going out; departure

the act of leaving or right to leave a particular place
(as modifier)an exit visa

departure from life; death

theatre the act of going offstage

(in Britain) a point at which vehicles may leave or join a motorway

bridge

the act of losing the lead deliberately
a card enabling one to do this

verb (intr)

to go away or out; depart; leave

theatre to go offstage: used as a stage directionexit Hamlet

bridge to lose the lead deliberately

(sometimes tr) computing to leave (a computer program or system)

Word Origin for exit

C17: from Latin exitus a departure, from exīre to go out, from ex- 1 + īre to go

British Dictionary definitions for exit (2 of 2)

Exit

/ (ˈɛɡzɪt, ˈɛksɪt) /

noun

(in Britain) a society that seeks to promote the legitimization of voluntary euthanasia

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

Word Origin and History for exit

exit

1530s, from Latin exit "he or she goes out," third person singular present indicative of exire "go out," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + ire "to go" (see ion).

Also from Latin exitus "a leaving, a going out," noun of action from exire. Originally in English a Latin stage direction (late 15c.); sense of "door for leaving" is 1786. Meaning "departure" (originally from the stage) is from 1580s. The verb is c.1600, from the noun; it ought to be left to stage directions and the clunky jargon of police reports.

Those who neither know Latin nor read plays are apt to forget or not know that this is a singular verb with plural exeunt. [Fowler]

Related: Exited; exiting.

exit

noun

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of exit

Definition for exit (2 of 2)

exit

verb (used without object)

Origin of exit

Examples from the Web for exit

British Dictionary definitions for exit (1 of 2)

exit

noun

verb (intr)

Word Origin for exit

British Dictionary definitions for exit (2 of 2)

Exit

noun

Word Origin and History for exit

exit