outreach
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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outreaches
plural
adjective
verb
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(tr) to surpass in reach
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(tr) to go beyond
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to reach or cause to reach out
noun
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the act or process of reaching out
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the length or extent of reach
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social welfare any systematic effort to provide unsolicited and predefined help to groups or individuals deemed to need it
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(modifier) (of welfare work or workers) propagating take-up of a service by seeking out appropriate people and persuading them to accept what is judged good for them Compare detached
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of outreach
Explanation
When medical care or other services are delivered to people in their community, it's through outreach. Your local animal shelter might conduct outreach programs to provide affordable vaccines to pet owners. When a person or organization reaches out to others, that's outreach. Churches, political groups, public health departments, and educators all offer outreach, extending some kind of helping hand or useful information to the wider community. You can also use this word to mean "exceed," like when demand for a new gaming console outreaches the available supply, or when a tennis player with longer arms can outreach an opponent by being able to hit a ball from farther away.
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.
See Examples For:
A graduate of Harvard with a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she started a homelessness outreach nonprofit after moving to Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
That granular data allows decisionmakers to allocate resources and target outreach to the areas with the highest need.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Harlow's Labour MP, Chris Vince, also worked for Streets2Homes as a project outreach worker.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
After placing major emphasis on the duty to remember, her institution is now focusing on outreach, education and engaging younger generations.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
There are students, parents, and a few people from community outreach organizations.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Despite having his antenna up, Russell says he was initially taken in by a couple of phony outreaches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Grace Methodist has been renting a former lodge hall for its services and has already started Bible studies and community outreaches, while also working to attract attendees from their neighborhood.
From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2023
The 60-day period of footage shows people moving boxes from the basement storage area around the time of one of the outreaches from the Justice Department.
From New York Times ● Aug. 26, 2022
The comments also included dozens of submissions of the same form letter in support of the deal, almost all copying in SRB and spurred by text-message outreaches by the company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2020
Love, that outreaches to the humblest things; Work that is glad, in what it does and brings; And faith that soars upon unwearied wings.
From New Thought Pastels by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
