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Idioms about out

Origin of out

First recorded before 900; (adverb) Middle English; Old English ūt; cognate with Dutch uit, German aus, Old Norse, Gothic ūt; akin to Sanskrit ud-; (adjective, interjection, and preposition) Middle English, from the adverb; (verb) Middle English outen, Old English ūtian “to put out,” cognate with Old Frisian ūtia

Other definitions for out (2 of 2)

out-

a prefixal use of out, adv., occurring in various senses in compounds (outcast, outcome, outside), and serving also to form many transitive verbs denoting a going beyond, surpassing, or outdoing in the particular action indicated (outbid, outdo, outgeneral, outlast, outstay, outrate).

Origin of out-

Middle English; Old English ūt-;see out
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use out in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for out (1 of 2)

Word Origin for out

Old English ūt; related to Old Saxon, Old Norse ūt, Old High German ūz, German aus

usage for out

The use of out as a preposition, though common in American English, is regarded as incorrect in British English: he climbed out of (not out) a window; he went out through the door

British Dictionary definitions for out (2 of 2)

out-

prefix
excelling or surpassing in a particular actionoutlast; outlive
indicating an external location or situation away from the centreoutpost; outpatient
indicating emergence, an issuing forth, etcoutcrop; outgrowth
indicating the result of an actionoutcome
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 out

out

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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