outlet

O1U1T1L1E1T1
/ˈaʊtlɛt//ˈaʊtlɪt/

noun

A vent or similar passage to allow the escape of something.

“Jamie found doing martial arts was a great outlet for her stress.”

Similar
mercantile establishmentretail storesales outletwall socketwall plugelectric outletelectrical outletelectric receptacle
CommonScrabble 6

Meanings

nounoutlet (plural outlets)

plural outlets

  1. A vent or similar passage to allow the escape of something.
  2. Something which allows for the release of one's desires.

    Jamie found doing martial arts was a great outlet for her stress.

    1 more example

    Song of the bleeding throat, / Death’s outlet song of life, (for well dear brother I know, / If thou wast not granted to sing thou would’st surely die.)

    1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems
  3. A river that runs out of a lake.
  4. A shop that sells the products of a particular manufacturer or supplier.
  5. A wall-mounted socket connected to an electrical power supply, at which current can be taken to run electrical devices.

    I had to move the cupboard to get to the power outlet.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna place of business for retailing goods

Similar
mercantile establishmentretail storesales outlet
Broader
place of businessbusiness establishment

nounreceptacle providing a place in a wiring system where current can be taken to run electrical devices

Similar
wall socketwall plugelectric outletelectrical outletelectric receptacle
Broader

nounan opening that permits escape or release

Broader

nounactivity that frees or expresses creative energy or emotion

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishoutleten“to allow, let out, emit”
  2. Middle Englishoutlete
  3. Englishoutlet

From Middle English outlete, outeleate, ut-lete, derived from Middle English outleten (“to allow, let out, emit”), equivalent to out- + let. Compare West Frisian útlit (“outlet”), Dutch uitlaat (“outlet”), German Auslass (“outlet”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἐκβολή
  • ἐκβολή (ekbolḗ)vent
Bulgarian отдушник, отдушник
  • отдушник (otdušnik)vent
  • отдушник (otdušnik)release of desires
  • промоционален магазин (promocionalen magazin)shop
Catalan sortida, desguàs
  • sortidavent
  • desguàsriver
  • punt de vendashop
Chinese Mandarin 出口, 折扣中心
  • 出口 (chūkǒu)vent
  • 折扣中心 (zhékòuzhōngxīn)shop
  • 暢貨中心 /畅货中心 (chànghuòzhōngxīn)shop
Danish afløb, udløb
  • afløbvent
  • udløbvent
  • afløbrelease of desires
Dutch uitlaat
  • uitlaatvent
Finnish luukku, aukko
  • luukkuvent
  • aukkovent
  • helpotusrelease of desires
  • laskujokiriver
  • liikeshop
French conduit, exutoire
  • conduitvent
  • exutoirerelease of desires
  • issuerelease of desires
  • exutoireriver
  • dérivatifriver
  • magasin d’usineshop
  • franchiseshop
German Ausgang, Auslass
  • Ausgangvent
  • Auslassvent
  • Direktverkaufshop
  • Werksverkaufshop
  • Direktvermarktershop
Japanese 出口, 捌け口
  • 出口 (deguchi)vent
  • 捌け口 (hakeguchi)release of desires
  • 流出河川 (ryūshutsu-kasen)river
  • 直販店 (chokuhanten)shop
  • アウトレット (autoretto)shop
Korean 출구
  • 출구 (chulgu)vent
Latin ēmissārium
  • ēmissāriumvent
Māori putanga, kōtore
  • putangavent
  • kōtoreriver
  • pūahatangariver
  • tāwahariver
Polish wyjście, ulga
  • wyjścievent
  • ulgarelease of desires
  • odpływriver
  • wyprzedażshop
  • zbytshop
  • outletshop
Portuguese ventilação, outlet
  • ventilaçãovent
  • outletshop
Russian вы́ход, отду́шина
  • вы́ход (výxod)vent
  • отду́шина (otdúšina)vent
  • вы́ход (výxod)release of desires
  • отду́шина (otdúšina)release of desires
  • сток (stok)river
  • торго́вая то́чка (torgóvaja tóčka)shop
  • магази́н (magazín)shop
  • а́утлет (áutlet)shop
Spanish salida, escape
  • salidavent
  • escapevent
  • desahogorelease of desires
  • río que nace en un lagoriver
  • desembocadurariver
  • minorista de marcashop
  • sucursalshop
  • punto de ventashop
  • outletshop
Tamil வடிகால்
  • வடிகால் (vaṭikāl)river

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

outlet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outlet

MLA

“outlet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outlet. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “outlet,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outlet.

Source: outlet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.