go out

present singular third person goes out · participle present going out · past went out · participle past gone out

1. intransitiveTo leave, especially a building.

   Please go out through the back door.

2. idiomaticintransitiveTo leave one's abode to go to public places, especially for recreation or entertainment.

   Let's go out tonight and have some fun!

   4 more examples

   They were going to stay in and read, but instead went out shopping.

   On their first date they went out to dinner at a restaurant.

   A ſower went out to ſowe his ſeede / and as he ſowed / ſome fell by the waye ſyde / and hit was troden vnder fete / and the foules of the ayre devoured it vp.

   1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke viij:[5], folios lxxxvj, verso – lxxxvij, recto

   It seems like we go out for pizza a lot these days.

   1986 September 8, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic)

   Antonyms: stay in

3. intransitiveTo be eliminated from a competition.

   Our team went out in the third round.

4. To come to an end, by nature or by an unseen external agent.
   1. intransitiveTo be turned off or extinguished.

      The lights went out while I was taking a shower.

      1 more example

      The match at once went out and Nickle only just saved himself from screaming.

      1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London

   2. intransitiveTo go unconscious; to pass out.

      When I hit him, he hit the floor and went out.

   3. intransitiveTo be drained from; to disappear from somebody.

      After diagnosis, all his confidence went out of him.

      1 more example

      All the fizz has already gone out of the election campaign.

   4. intransitiveTo become extinct, to expire.

      And cold the poor man lies at night, / And so goes out the year.

      1922 October, A[lfred] E[dward] Housman, “[Poem] XXVIII”, in Last Poems, London: Grant Richards Ltd., →OCLC, page 54

   5. intransitiveTo die.

      As much as you may want to plan your funeral, you can't control when you go out.

      1 more example

      1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure A motorcycle cop led the funeral procession & with all the cabs pulling up the rear we were 5–6 blocks long. The cops even blocked off streets for us. The guy went out like a goddamn mayor.

5. intransitivecard gamesTo discard or meld all the cards in one's hand.

   Leon made two canastas, then went out by melding treys.

6. intransitiveTo pass out of fashion; be on the wane.

   He thought Nehru jackets went out in the late seventies.

   1 more example

   And ‘blubbing’ . . . Blubbing went out with ‘decent’ and ‘ripping’. Mind you, not a bad new language to start up. 1920s schoolboy slang could be due for a revival.

   1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section II, page 24

   Antonyms: come in

7. intransitiveTo have a romantic relationship, one that involves going out together on dates; to be a couple.

   Jack and Susan are going out.

   1 more example

   They've been going out for three years now, but still live apart.

8. intransitiveTo have a romantic relationship (with someone).

   Do you think she will go out with anyone this year?

9. colloquialintransitiveTo fail.

   I'd like to help clear the field, but my knee went out on me.

10. intransitivewith onTo spend the last moments of a show (while playing something).

    Thank you for introducing us to your new album. Which song should we go out on?

11. intransitiveTo recede; to ebb.

    Antonyms: come in

12. intransitiveusuallyTo sympathize with; to express positive feelings towards.

    My heart went out to her, but there was nothing I could do.

    1 more example

    Our thoughts and prayers go out to those afflicted by the tragedy.

13. intransitiveobsoleteTo take part in a duel (with).First known use 17th–19th c.

    He went out at the firſt hint with the Neapolitan, and being an admirable ſwordſman, wounded and diſarmed him; […]

    1789 May 27, [John Moore], chapter III, in Zeluco. Various Views of Human Nature, Taken from Life and Manners, Foreign and Domestic., volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 20

    1 more example

    He must go out or be under a social ban. Out they go accordingly, and the trained pistol-shot kills his civilian opponent.

    1890 December, Cornhill Magazine, page 626

14. UKintransitivebroadcastingTo be broadcast.

    The first episode of the show goes out on Saturday.