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

Example Sentences

“What I always tell faculty is, ‘Don’t outsource the thing that you love.’

From Los Angeles Times

Like any skill, it atrophies when we outsource the work.

From The Wall Street Journal

The plan is to invest in “everything our country has outsourced and abdicated over recent decades,” Combs says.

From Barron's

The Federal Communications Commission advanced a plan to bring outsourced call center jobs back to the U.S., voting Thursday to open the proposal to public comments and paving the way to adoption later this year.

From The Wall Street Journal

Then we outsourced the people who knew how manufacturing worked.

From MarketWatch