live-out

[ liv-out ]

/ ˈlɪvˌaʊt /

Save This Word!

adjective

residing away from the place of one's employment: a live-out cook.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of live-out

First recorded in 1965–70; by analogy with live-in

Words nearby live-out

Livenza, live oak, live on, live on borrowed time, live on the edge, live-out, liver, liver chestnut, liver extract, liver fluke, liveried

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use live-out in a sentence

Not about encouraging aspiring butchers to live out their violent fantasies in Syria.
The Scared Widdle Kitty of ISIS|Jacob Siegel|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As they now live out their wildest dreams, their barbarity has cost the U.S. far more.
The Luxury Homes That Torture and Your Tax Dollars Built|Michael Daly|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Part of that bourgeois dream involved white people getting to live out their fantasies of having black servants.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal|Olivia Nuzzi|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Soth refers to Silicon Valley as a nerdy Hollywood, in that people go there to live out their dreams.
Photographer Alec Soth Shows a Different Side of Silicon Valley|Ann Binlot|November 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST

A sea sanctuary is also a way for previously captive killer whales to live out their lives in a dignified, sustainable manner.
‘Blackfish’ Director: Killer Whales Don’t Belong in Captivity|Gabriela Cowperthwaite|October 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
With big, rangy Sam Welborn, David started out to become a rancher and live out his days in peace and quiet.
David Lannarck, Midget|George S. Harney
It takes strength of mind for a man to decide to live out his destiny rather than run away from life.
Napoleon's Young Neighbor|Helen Leah Reed
Time enough if I live out my Oxford year, and have really mastered the matter pretty well.
Life of John Coleridge Patteson|Charlotte M. Yonge
She herself went there to live out her days, and died there on August 31st, 1833, at the age of eighty-two.
Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall|Robert S. Hawker
So closely is the scriptural warning fulfilled, that "bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days."
History of the Rise of the Huguenots|Henry Baird

British Dictionary definitions for live-out

live out

/ (lɪv) /

verb

(intr, adverb) (of an employee, as in a hospital or hotel) to dwell away from one's place of employment

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with live-out

live out

Complete or survive the end of a period of time, as in Grandpa wants to live out his days in a warmer climate. [First half of 1500s]

Reside away from one's place of employment, as in She's a fine housekeeper, but insists on living out. This expression is used primarily for domestic help. [Mid-1800s] Also see live in, def. 1.

live out of. Lead a lifestyle characterized by a particular item. This phrase appears in such idioms as live out of a suitcase, meaning “to travel so much that one has no time to unpack one's belongings,” or live out of cans, meaning “to eat only canned food for lack of other foods or time to prepare them.” For example, Traveling for months on end, he got very tired of living out of a suitcase, or We had neither gas nor electricity for a week and had to live out of cans.