go out

verb

1. to depart from a room, house, country, etc

2. to cease to illuminate, burn, or function

   the fire has gone out

3. to cease to be fashionable or popular

   that style went out ages ago!

4. to become unconscious or fall asleep

   she went out like a light

5. (of a broadcast) to be transmitted

6. to go to entertainments, social functions, etc

7. to associate (with a person of the opposite sex) regularly; date

8. (of workers) to begin to strike

9. (foll by to) to be extended (to)

   our sympathy went out to her on the death of her sister

10. cards to get rid of the last card, token, etc, in one's hand

11. to make a great effort to achieve or obtain something

    he went all out to pass the exam

Idioms and Phrases

Be extinguished, as in All the lights went out . [c. 1400]

Die; also, faint. For example, I want to go out before I become senile , or At the sight of blood he went out like a light . The first usage dates from about 1700 and was at first put go out of the world . For the variant, see under out cold .

Take part in social life outside the home, as in We go out a lot during the holiday season . This usage dates from the second half of the 1700s and gave rise to go out with someone , meaning “to date someone.”

Stop working, as in To show their support of the auto workers, the steel workers went out too . This expression is short for go out on strike . [Late 1800s]

Become unfashionable, as in Bell-bottom pants went out in the 1970s but made a comeback in the 1990s. This usage is sometimes amplified to go out of fashion or go out of style , as in This kind of film has gone out of fashion , or These boots are going out of style . [Late 1400s]

Cease to function as before. This sense appears in go out of print , said of a book that will no longer be printed. Also see the subsequent idioms beginning with go out .

Example Sentences

“I feel like I could go out in Hollywood and handle anything because I handled every piece of adversity that went on in that building,” Johnson said.

From Los Angeles Times

"But who knows, maybe after this play goes out, the general public might say 'OK we've had enough', and I'll go and work in a café or something."

From BBC

When the order finally went out, homes in the area were already ablaze.

From Los Angeles Times

But I wanted to go out and visit - I wanted to see what it was really like.

From BBC

He continued: "My life has been turned upside down by these boys, young fellas, who went out on the street looking for somebody to kill. Unfortunately, Stephen was in their sight."

From BBC

Related Words

• depart 
• exit 
• walk out