Talk:out

Missing sense
There's a sense missing to fit the phrases "I'm all pubbed out", meaning I've had enough of pubs; "she's all meated out" meaning she's had enough meat; "they were all worded out" meaning they've had enough of words. --Porelmundo 15:58, 23 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I think that's the fifth adverbial sense. We just have a really bad definition for it. --Μετάknowledge discuss/deeds 01:14, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

Also, one to fit the similar usage of "out" which is used in a radio transmission to indicate that the speaker is finished and does not expect a reply. It is sometimes used (incorrectly) in "over and out" which are contradictory ("over" indicates that a reply is expected.)

away from the center (preposition)
^ That preposition failed RFV. It had these translations:


 * Dutch:
 * Finnish:


 * Latvian: ārā +
 * Scots: oot

Rfv-sense: preposition: (informal) Away from the center.

The for this sense, added June 2008, has yielded no fruit. I haven't found the sense in OneLook dictionaries. DCDuring TALK 22:41, 31 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Deleted. - -sche (discuss) 20:28, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

the sun is out
Do we have a defintion for "the sun is out"? --Type56op9 (talk) 11:42, 16 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Hm, doesn't look like it. I suppose the meaning is "uncovered by clouds"? For anyone trying to add this, remember that the sun can also come out. Equinox ◑ 13:29, 16 September 2014 (UTC)


 * ✅ New adverb sense. Hope it's okay. Equinox ◑ 00:50, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Missing sense: to be out of something (have none left)
This sense seems to be missing. I suppose it's an adjective. It doesn't always require a following "of". Equinox ◑ 00:48, 31 March 2015 (UTC)


 * 1969, Monty Python's Flying Circus,
 * Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the shop, and uh, we're right out of parrots.

Verb out
Also missing is a sense for something, I guess to prevail or conquer. The good will out. --Q9ui5ckflash (talk) 15:15, 30 September 2016 (UTC)

RFD discussion: September 2016
The sense "To reveal (a person) to be secretly gay or transgender." is unnecessary because it is covered by the next sense of "To reveal (a person or organization) as having a certain secret, such as a being a secret agent or undercover detective." The latter can also be adjusted to make it seem less like it is only about secret agents. --WikiTiki89 00:08, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Are they etymologically linked? I was under the impression that the former was a clipping of out of the closet, while the latter, eh, not so much.  Also, if this is kept, I would ditch the word "secretly". Pur ple back pack 89   01:08, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
 * How could it be? "Out of the closet" is not a verb. But that is a good point, it's possible I guess that this sense is not derived from the other sense, but rather from the closet analogy. --WikiTiki89 01:40, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
 * They don't have to be mutually exclusive. It looks to me like this is just a case of using the adjective out as a verb. If that's true, then it's only the first word of "out of the closet" and the first word of "out in the open" that are relevant, not the entire phrases. Chuck Entz (talk) 02:05, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Weak keep, but also weak delete, so more of an abstain. If this is kept, I recommend merging the two senses, making the "certain secret of any kind" definition above the "secretly gay" definition. Like this:

1. To reveal (a person or organization) as having a certain secret, such as a being a secret agent or undercover detective.


 * 1. To reveal (a person) to be secretly gay or transgender.

PseudoSkull (talk) 01:35, 7 September 2016 (UTC)


 * But why not just add modify the other sense to include homosexuality as an example in addition to the secret agent example? --WikiTiki89 01:40, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I imagine that at least some people who use the word mean it in the narrow sense, in which case it might more properly be considered a sub-definition than falling under a broader definition. I have no proof of that though. Andrew Sheedy (talk) 02:12, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Keep, lexically distinct. They are distinct to an English speaker even if it's hypothetically possibly to merge them, such a merger isn't in the best interests of the entry. Renard Migrant (talk) 12:14, 7 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Keep as the LGBT-related sense is older, and the more general sense is a development of it. —Aɴɢʀ (talk) 13:57, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Is that really the case? --WikiTiki89 14:01, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
 * It seems you may be right. I'm going to withdraw this nomination. --WikiTiki89 14:10, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
 * The OED has the two transitive senses separated (a & b) with first cites for both being from 1990, the sexual orientation sense being seven months earlier. Are there earlier usages?    D b f  i  r  s   07:58, 12 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Weak keep: I think many uses of "out" use this narrow sense without necessarily providing context; the suggestion that the two senses have different etymologies is also interesting and weighs in favor of keeping. However, in favor of deletion there is the matter that a person could also be outed as bisexual, at which point the rationale for keeping the (thus fairly broad) definition separate does become a bit weak. - -sche (discuss) 22:11, 29 September 2016 (UTC)

I argued her out of leaving
What meaning is used in I argued her out of leaving ? --Backinstadiums (talk) 12:10, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

out from
What meaning is used in Just a week out from Apple’s 6S launch, Huawei’s revealed the Mate S ? --Backinstadiums (talk) 19:18, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

Equal out
What meaning is shown in It will all equal out in the end? --Backinstadiums (talk) 09:54, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

Out gay person, etc
Just noting for future findability that the gay / queer / transgender / LGBT+ -related senses are discussed at Tea room/2020/September. - -sche (discuss) 19:07, 7 September 2020 (UTC)

RFV discussion: July–December 2020

 * See Talk:in.

Switch the lights out
Is this a British expression? To me it would mean changing the lightbulb. Here we switch the lights off at lights out. DAVilla 20:03, 14 June 2021 (UTC)


 * I don't know if it's unique to BrE but yes, we say it. You can also turn the lights out. Equinox ◑ 20:13, 14 June 2021 (UTC)
 * We also say "turn the lights out" and "turn out the lights" here in New England (alongside "turn the lights off"). However, I have never heard "switch the lights out". Like DAVilla, the phrases "switch the lights out" and "switch out the lights" mean "replace the lightbulb(s) with new ones" where I live. Tharthan (talk) 21:45, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

I changed the example from switch to turn as being more universal. DAVilla 22:13, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

RFV discussion: December 2020–December 2021
German. Tagged by 84.161.26.75 on 19 October 2016, not listed:

“RFV for the attributive forms like "outer" (e.g. *"ein outer Mann"). This word is usally (AFAIK only) used predicative like "(something) ist out".” J3133 (talk) 08:29, 1 December 2020 (UTC)

RFV-failed; converted to de-decl-adj-predonly. Can you please delete the inflected forms? --Fytcha (talk) 12:41, 23 December 2021 (UTC)


 * Done. SemperBlotto (talk) 15:18, 1 January 2022 (UTC)

From here on out
What's it mean here? is it idiomatic enough? --Backinstadiums (talk) 23:29, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

out the window
The preposition was discussed at Tea room/2020/September. - -sche (discuss) 19:00, 3 October 2023 (UTC)