take someone out back

verb

To get rid of; to eliminate.

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Meanings

verbtake someone out back (third-person singular simple present takes someone out back, present participle taking someone out back, simple past took someone out back, past participle taken someone out back)

present singular third person takes someone out back · participle present taking someone out back · past took someone out back · participle past taken someone out back

  1. idiomatictransitiveTo get rid of; to eliminate.

    "I'm hoping someone in Russia will understand he is destroying Russia and you need to take this guy out back any means possible," he said.

    2022 March 4, Graig Graziosi, “Kremlin spokesman brands Lindsey Graham a drunk after senator calls for Putin’s assassination”, in The Independent, archived from the original on 06 Apr 2022

Origin

Referring to taking a person out of sight for punishment, e.g. a summary execution; or a pet out of sight for euthanasia.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

take someone out back. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20someone%20out%20back

MLA

“take someone out back.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20someone%20out%20back. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “take someone out back,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20someone%20out%20back.

Source: take someone out back on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.