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outer

[ou-ter]
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adjective
  1. situated on or toward the outside; external; exterior: outer garments; an outer wall.
  2. situated farther out or farther from the center: the outer reaches of space.
  3. of or relating to the external world.
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Origin of outer

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at out, -er4
Related formsout·er·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

exterior, outlying, alien, beyond, extraneous, extrinsic, outermost, outside, outward, over, peripheral, remote, superficial, surface, without, outmost, exoteric

Examples from the Web for outer

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • They were putting on outer clothes from the store-room to protect them from the dirt and damp.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • The fiend prevailed; and Prudence vanished into the outer darkness.

  • In two days he found one egg on the outer skin of the grape.

  • The outer gate was shut, and all the blinds on the front of the house were closed.

    The Underdog

    F. Hopkinson Smith

  • The ship had a good run from off Mahon to Leghorn where we anchored in the outer roads.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for outer

outer

adjective (prenominal)
  1. being or located on the outside; external
  2. further from the middle or central part
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noun
  1. archery
    1. the white outermost ring on a target
    2. a shot that hits this ring
  2. Australian the unsheltered part of the spectator area at a sports ground
  3. on the outer Australian and NZ informal excluded or neglected
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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

Word Origin and History for outer

adj.

late 14c., comparative of out (on analogy of inner), replacing by 18c. forms descended from Old English uttera (comp. of Old English ut "out") which developed into utter and was no longer felt as connected with out. Outer space first attested 1901 in writings of H.G. Wells.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper