outreach
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
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:
Nežič, who works at the planetarium as a tours and outreach officer, said he thought it was "so cool" when he learned that asteroids can be named after people.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Voter education and outreach was part of the mission.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026
"Nepal is actually driving us into how the fund is going to look like when it comes to rapid disbursement modalities," said Brenda Mwale, outreach lead at the Loss and Damage Collaboration.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
They have other events like trivia nights to do outreach, particularly within the Greek life community.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
The sorority tutored, mentored children, did community outreach, and gave out scholarships.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
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
Of all the ancient cultures clustered around the eastern half of the Mediterranean Sea, whether Egypt, Greece, Persia or Rome’s imperial outreaches, Thrace is surely the least well-known.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2025
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 idea is conveyed of an object that invites our observation and pursuit, but which at every step outreaches apprehension, each discovery revealing depths within it unperceived before.
From The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians by G. G. Findlay
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
