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• exit
  exit

  noun

  a way or passage out.
• Exit
  Exit

  noun

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

exit

¹ American  

[eg-zit, ek-sit] / ˈɛg zɪt, ˈɛk sɪt /

noun

• exits
  plural

1. a way or passage out.

   Please leave the theater by the nearest exit.

2. any of the marked ramps or spurs providing egress from a highway.

   Take the second exit after the bridge for the downtown shopping district.

3. a going out or away; departure.

   to make one's exit.

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

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

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verb (used without object)

1. to go out; leave.

2. Bridge. to play an exit card.

verb (used with object)

1. to leave; depart from.

   Sign out before you exit the building.

exit ² American  

[eg-zit, ek-sit] / ˈɛg zɪt, ˈɛk sɪt /

verb (used without object)

1. (a person) goes offstage (used as a stage direction, often preceding the name of the character).

   Exit Falstaff.

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exit ¹ British  

/ ˈɛɡzɪt, ˈɛksɪt /

noun

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

2. the act or an instance of going out; departure

3. 1. the act of leaving or right to leave a particular place

   2. ( as modifier )

      an exit visa

4. departure from life; death

5. theatre the act of going offstage

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

7. bridge

   1. the act of losing the lead deliberately

   2. a card enabling one to do this

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verb

1. to go away or out; depart; leave

2. theatre to go offstage: used as a stage direction

   exit Hamlet

3. bridge to lose the lead deliberately

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

Exit ² British  

/ ˈɛɡzɪt, ˈɛksɪt /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• exits
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of exit¹

First recorded in 1560–70; partly from Latin exitus “act of going out, departure,” noun derivative of exīre “to go out”; partly noun and verb use of exit ²

Origin of exit²

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin exit; literally, “(he/she) goes out,” 3rd-person singular present of exīre; see exit ¹

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Explanation

To exit is to go out of or leave a place. When an actor exits, he moves off the stage and out of sight of the audience. You can literally exit a room or a building, or exit in a more figurative way: "She decided to exit politics after two terms as Senator." The door or passage through which you exit can also be called an exit, like the emergency exit on a train or airplane. The stage direction, as in "exit, stage left," is the original English use of the word, from the Latin exitus, "a leaving, a going out."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exit Exit exits

Other figures have come up since, the people said, but the message was clear: The price of an exit would be in the tens of billions of dollars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

Shortly after 4 p.m., the CHP said multiple drivers stuck in traffic were making U-turns to go the wrong way and exit off the on-ramp, according to the logs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

According to voter polls — formerly known as exit polls — the top issue for voters was the cost of living, as expected.

From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2026

An exit poll is expected to be released immediately.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

Door slung an arm around his friend and walked him toward the exit.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Her latest sci-fi book, Exit Party, is no exception.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Exit polling found that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz beat Democrat Colin Allred by 18 percentage points among non-college-educated Texans in 2024.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026

Border police at Portugal's Faro airport also told the BBC the Entry Exit System technology suffered from bugs, but insisted any queues there would go down quickly.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Exit polls by Ipsos and Datum showed Roberto Sanchez, Ricardo Belmont, Rafael Lopez Aliaga and Jorge Nieto separated by only a few points in the race for second place.

From Barron's ● Apr. 13, 2026

Powell’s radio-harshened voice boomed out: “Are you ready to take us to Exit 13a?”

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

Russian Telegram channel Baza, which reportedly has links to law enforcement, said the park was now closed and "open only for exits".

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

The most popular months for in-season managerial departures are November and December, with almost a third of all manager exits happening in these two months alone.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

In a different financial reality, it needed to be stripped back and, including loans and academy exits, 34 players left the club in the summer and 16 arrived.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

Dispatches from the orchard front include complaints of apple theft that have required searches at the exits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

He was getting used to her abrupt entrances and exits.

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart

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Related Words

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