select out

verb

To fire (an employee).

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Meanings

verbselect out (third-person singular simple present selects out, present participle selecting out, simple past and past participle selected out)

present singular third person selects out · participle present selecting out · participle past selected out · past selected out

  1. USeuphemistictransitiveTo fire (an employee).

    Employees are, of course, never fired. They are selected out, placed out, non-retained, released, dehired, non-renewed.

    1991, Elvio Angeloni, Annual Editions: Anthropology, 91-92, page 44
    1 more example

    During the past week employees of grade 13 and above in the Agency for International Development, which is seeking legislation to "select out" employees without regard to civil service laws, received invitations.

    1967, United States. Congress. Senate. Judiciary, Privacy and the Rights of Federal Employees: Hearings
Cite this entry
APA

select out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/select%20out

MLA

“select out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/select%20out. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “select out,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/select%20out.

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