outsource

American  

[out-sawrs, ‑-sohrs] / ˈaʊtˌsɔrs, ‑ˌsoʊrs /

verb (used with object)

outsourced, outsourcing

1. (of a company or organization) to purchase (goods) or subcontract (services) from an outside supplier or source.

2. to contract out (jobs, services, etc.).

   a small business that outsources bookkeeping to an accounting firm.

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verb (used without object)

outsourced, outsourcing

1. to obtain goods or services from an outside source.

   U.S. companies who outsource from China.

outsource British  

/ ˌaʊtˈsɔːs /

verb

1. to subcontract (work) to another company

2. to buy in (components for a product) rather than manufacture them

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Other Word Forms

• outsourcing
  noun

Etymology

Origin of outsource

1975–80

Explanation

To outsource is to hire someone outside a company to do work. A newspaper might outsource some of its stories, paying freelance writers instead of using its full-time staff. When a business outsources, they either employ someone who freelances or works for another company, or they buy supplies from outside the company. Either way, it often involves paying less for the labor or goods, and many companies save money by outsourcing from other countries. This business term is relatively new, emerging in the 1980s from the verb source, "obtain from a particular source."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

outsource outsourced outsourcing

Tsimerman’s productivity has increased because he’s perfectly willing to outsource the boring parts of his job to AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

The company has chosen to outsource a portion of its AI capabilities through a partnership with Google Gemini.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

Still, “California can’t outsource all it’s data center capacity,” and the state expects to see growth over the coming years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

But they added that to simply "outsource their thinking" to the tech would highlight its limits.

From BBC ● May 18, 2026

And this created a great incentive for them to outsource some of this analytical work to places like Bangalore.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

The friends are passingly concerned that they’ve outsourced too much of their mental stimulation to the internet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Because springing for and maintaining a fleet of its own is costly, ICE has historically outsourced its deportation flights to private companies or used military and Coast Guard vessels.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

He says he outsourced the "chore" to an AI agent - a tool that can carry out online tasks autonomously.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

The alternative to outsourced childcare has a few invisible price tags, however.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Still, franchisees of two other McDonald’s restaurants, beyond Davis’s, have outsourced their drive-through ordering to Bigari in Colorado Springs.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

UAW President Shawn Fain said the offer failed to address the outsourcing of work and didn’t include a plan to recall 1,600 laid-off employees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

It has warned outsourcing facilities for repackaging the drug, telehealth companies for marketing the unapproved drug to consumers, and distributors for selling retatrutide to compounders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

At the same time, the company has been streamlining operations, having previously completed the outsourcing of deliveries to grocery and convenience partners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Concentrix - which is the biggest outsourcing firm in the Philippines - says its AI systems should remain under human oversight and has committed to training employees in the new technology.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

So even with the outsourcing of some service jobs from the United States to India, India’s growing economy is creating a demand for many more American goods and services.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman