light out

verb

To go away or depart, especially in haste or without notice.

“the outlaws lit out for the border”

Similar
abscondmake offskip
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Meanings

verblight out (third-person singular simple present lights out, present participle lighting out, simple past and past participle lit out or lighted out)

present singular third person lights out · participle present lighting out · participle past lit out · past lit out · participle past lighted out · past lighted out

  1. datedintransitiveslangTo go away or depart, especially in haste or without notice.

    the outlaws lit out for the border

    1 more example

    He didn’t see a road for him at TI, so he lit out to build one in Taiwan.

    2023 March 21, Virginia Heffernan, “I Saw the Face of God in a Semiconductor Factory”, in WIRED

    Synonyms: abscond, make off, skip

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo go away or depart, especially in haste or without notice.

Similar
abscondmake offskip

Origin

Phrasal verb from light (“to get down, drop, come”, verb) + out (“away from”, adverb).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

light out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/light%20out

MLA

“light out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/light%20out. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “light out,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/light%20out.

Source: light out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.