outsource
[out-sawrs, ‐sohrs]
- (of a company or organization) to purchase (goods) or subcontract (services) from an outside supplier or source.
- to contract out (jobs, services, etc.): a small business that outsources bookkeeping to an accounting firm.
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- to obtain goods or services from an outside source: U.S. companies who outsource from China.
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Origin of outsource
1975–80
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for outsourcing
Contemporary Examples
The next day, Perdue was asked if he could defend the “outsourcing” charges.
The truth about his role in outsourcing jobs seems to be somewhere in the middle.
Another technique is the outsourcing of labor to lower paid foreign workers, the so called “techno-coolies.”
Silicon Valley’s Giants Are Just Gilded Age Tycoons in Techno-Utopian ClothesJoel Kotkin
April 25, 2014
At this point, she began marketing her designs as furniture and was outsourcing labor to produce them.
Outsourcing simply means that a person, or even a machine, will perform an operation for you.
Historical Examples
The strategy of outsourcing is based on the notion that maximum efficiency requires specialization that companies cannot achieve.
The Civilization of IlliteracyMihai Nadin
outsource
- to subcontract (work) to another company
- to buy in (components for a product) rather than manufacture them
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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 outsourcing
outsource
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper