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max out

British  

verb

  1. informal to reach or cause to reach the full extent or allowance

    the goal was to max out the customer's credit card

"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

max out Idioms  
  1. Exhaust one's options, capacity, or the like by producing or performing to the maximum, as in The weight lifter maxed out at 180 kilograms . [ Slang ; late 1900s]

  2. Reach a point at which no more growth, improvement, or benefit is possible, as in The salary for this job maxes out at $90,000 . [ Slang ; late 1900s]

  3. Relax, take things easy, as in Let's go to the beach and max out . [ Slang ; late 1900s]


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Also, max out on any pretax contributions you are eligible to make.

From Barron's • Apr. 25, 2026

Fans who won a time slot in this drop but didn’t reach the ticket maximum will be automatically entered into subsequent ticket lotteries until they max out their ticket allotment.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

I haven’t saved much for retirement over the past few years, so I immediately maxed out my IRA contribution for 2025 and plan to max out my IRA contribution for 2026 as well.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 16, 2026

While the 64-year-old believes Loudoun County will max out its land available for data centers in the coming years, he isn’t getting out of the game.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

Avid readers, they "max out" their borrowing, taking 20 books each under their individual library cards, the most they are allowed.

From BBC • Dec. 27, 2025

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