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

He has run the business in Leeds for 16 years and said shoplifting has "got out of control" in the past five to 10 years.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

He claimed that Paltrow skied out of control and slammed into him, causing four broken ribs and permanent brain damage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Caine said that it should not be left to private companies alone to reassure the public that AI "will never... come out of control", and that governments instead must take responsibility for creating regulatory frameworks.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

When something is speeding up and going out of control, prudence, care and deliberation aren’t alarmist, they’re necessary.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

As voices were raised and emotions became heated, the argument began to spiral out of control.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh