out of control

Idioms  

1. Also, out of hand. No longer under management, direction, or regulation; unmanageable or unruly. For example, Housing costs are out of control, or The children were getting out of hand again. The first term uses control in the sense of “restraint,” a usage dating from the late 1500s; the variant uses hand in the sense of “power” or “authority,” and dates from the late 1800s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

out of control

The emergency was far from over on Sunday, even as Spanish officials were cautiously optimistic that the blazes were no longer spreading out of control.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

The fires around Madrid remained out of control on Friday, with Spanish officials saying that two major blazes southwest of the capital had merged, further complicating efforts to extinguish them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

An update on Friday morning described both fires as "out of control" although their progression in recent hours had been "limited".

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

"The place is out of control," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

When wildfires got big, when the wind whipped them up and they grew quickly out of control, that’s when they were really dangerous.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz