| out |
| See also individual phrasal verbs such as come out, go out, put out, take out, pull out, and so on. | |
| 1. adv. Away from the inside or the centre. | |
| The magician pulled the rabbit out of the hat. | |
| 2. adv. Away from home or one's usual place. | |
| Let's eat out tonight | |
| 3. adv. Outside; not indoors. | |
| Last night we slept out under the stars. | |
| 4. adv. Away from; at a distance. | |
| Keep out! | |
| 5. adv. Into a state of non-operation; into non-existence. | |
| Switch the lights out. | |
| Put the fire out. | |
| 6. adv. To the end; completely. | |
| I hadn't finished. Hear me out. | |
| 7. adv. Used to intensify or emphasize. | |
| The place was all decked out for the holidays. | |
| 8. adv. (of the sun, moon, stars, etc.) So as to be visible in the sky, and not covered by clouds, fog, etc. | |
| The sun came out after the rain, and we saw a rainbow. | |
| 9. adv. (cricket, baseball) Of a player, so as to be disqualified from playing further by some action of a member of the opposing team (such as being stumped in cricket). | |
| Wilson was bowled out for five runs. | |
| 10. prep. (nonstandard, contraction of out of) Away from the inside. | |
| He threw it out the door. | |
| 11. prep. (colloquial) Outside. | |
| It's raining out. | |
| It's cold out. | |
| 12. n. A means of exit, escape, reprieve, etc. | |
| They wrote the law to give those organizations an out. | |
| 13. n. (baseball) A state in which a member of the batting team is removed from play due to the application of various rules of the game such as striking out, hitting a fly ball which is caught by the fieldi | |
| 14. n. (cricket) A dismissal; a state in which a member of the batting team finishes his turn at bat, due to the application of various rules of the game, such as the bowler knocking over the batsman's wicke | |
| 15. n. (poker) A card which can make a hand a winner. | |
| 16. n. (dated) A trip out; an outing. | |
| 17. n. (mostly, in plural) One who, or that which, is out; especially, one who is out of office. | |
| 18. n. A place or space outside of something; a nook or corner; an angle projecting outward; an open space. | |
| 19. n. (printing, dated) A word or words omitted by the compositor in setting up copy; an omission. | |
| 20. v. To eject; to expel. | |
| 21. v. To reveal (a person) to be gay, bisexual, or transgender. | |
| 22. v. To reveal (a person or organization) as having a certain secret, such as a being a secret agent or undercover detective. | |
| 23. v. To reveal (a secret). | |
| A Brazilian company outed the new mobile phone design. | |
| 24. v. (intransitive, archaic) To come or go out; to get out or away; to become public. | |
| 25. v. To become apparent. | |
| 26. adj. Not at home; not at one's office or place of employment. | |
| I'm sorry, Mr Smith is out at the moment. | |
| 27. adj. Released, available for purchase, download or other use. | |
| Did you hear? Their newest CD is out! | |
| 28. adj. (in various games; used especially of a batsman or batter in cricket or baseball) Dismissed from play under the rules of the game. | |
| He bowls, Johnson pokes at it ... and ... Johnson is out! Caught behind by Ponsonby! | |
| 29. adj. Openly acknowledging that one is gay or transgender. | |
| It's no big deal to be out in the entertainment business. | |
| 30. adj. (of flowers) In bloom. | |
| The garden looks beautiful now that the roses are out. | |
| 31. adj. (of the sun, moon or stars) Visible in the sky; not obscured by clouds. | |
| The sun is out, and it's a lovely day. | |
| 32. adj. (of lamps, fires etc.) Not shining or burning. | |
| I called round to the house but all the lights were out and no one was home. | |
| 33. adj. (of ideas, plans, etc.) Discarded; no longer a possibility. | |
| Right, so that idea's out. Let's move on to the next one. | |
| 34. adj. No longer popular or in fashion. | |
| Black is out this season. The new black is white. | |
| 35. adj. Without; no longer in possession of; not having more | |
| Do you have any bread? Sorry, we're out. | |
| 36. adj. (of calculations or measurements) Containing errors or discrepancies; in error by a stated amount. | |
| Nothing adds up in this report. All these figures are out. | |
| The measurement was out by three millimetres. | |
| 37. adj. (obsolete) Of a young lady: having entered society and available to be courted. | |
| 38. interj. (procedure word, especially, military) A radio procedure word meaning that the station is finished with its transmission and does not expect a response. | |
| Destruction. Two T-72s destroyed. Three foot mobiles down. Out. | |
| of |
| 1. prep. Expressing distance or motion. | |
| 2. prep. (now obsolete, or dialectal) From (of distance, direction), "off". | |
| 3. prep. (obsolete except in phrases) Since, from (a given time, earlier state etc.). | |
| 4. prep. From, away from (a position, number, distance etc.). | |
| There are no shops within twenty miles of the cottage. | |
| 5. prep. (North America, Scotland, Ireland) Before (the hour); to. | |
| What's the time? / Nearly a quarter of three. | |
| 6. prep. Expressing separation. | |
| 7. prep. (Indicating removal, absence or separation, with the action indicated by a transitive verb and the quality or substance by a grammatical object.) | |
| Finally she was relieved of the burden of caring for her sick husband. | |
| 8. prep. (Indicating removal, absence or separation, with resulting state indicated by an adjective.) | |
| He seemed devoid of human feelings. | |
| 9. prep. (obsolete) (Indicating removal, absence or separation, construed with an intransitive verb.) | |
| 10. prep. Expressing origin. | |
| 11. prep. (Indicating an ancestral source or origin of descent.) | |
| The word is believed to be of Japanese origin. | |
| 12. prep. (Indicating a (non-physical) source of action or emotion; introducing a cause, instigation); from, out of, as an expression of. | |
| The invention was born of necessity. | |
| 13. prep. (following an intransitive verb) (Indicates the source or cause of the verb.) | |
| It is said that she died of a broken heart. | |
| 14. prep. (following an adjective) (Indicates the subject or cause of the adjective.) | |
| I am tired of all this nonsense. | |
| 15. prep. Expressing agency. | |
| 16. prep. (following a passive verb) (Indicates the agent (for most verbs, now usually expressed with by).) | |
| I am not particularly enamoured of this idea. | |
| 17. prep. (Used to introduce the "subjective genitive"; following a noun to form the head of a postmodifying noun phrase) (see also 'Possession' senses below). | |
| The contract can be terminated at any time with the agreement of both parties. | |
| 18. prep. (following an adjective) (Used to indicate the agent of something described by the adjective.) | |
| It was very brave of you to speak out like that. | |
| 19. prep. Expressing composition, substance. | |
| 20. prep. (after a verb expressing construction, making etc.) (Used to indicate the material or substance used.) | |
| Many 'corks' are now actually made of plastic. | |
| 21. prep. (directly following a noun) (Used to indicate the material of the just-mentioned object.) | |
| She wore a dress of silk. | |
| 22. prep. (Indicating the composition of a given collective or quantitative noun.) | |
| What a lot of nonsense! | |
| 23. prep. (Used to link a given class of things with a specific example of that class.) | |
| Welcome to the historic town of Harwich. | |
| 24. prep. (Links two nouns in near-apposition, with the first qualifying the second); "which is also". | |
| I'm not driving this wreck of a car. | |
| 25. prep. Introducing subject matter. | |
| 26. prep. (Links an intransitive verb, or a transitive verb and its subject (especially verbs to do with thinking, feeling, expressing etc.), with its subject-ma | |
| I'm always thinking of you. | |
| 27. prep. (following a noun (now chiefly nouns of knowledge, communication etc.)) (Introduces its subject matter); about, concerning. | |
| He told us the story of his journey to India. | |
| 28. prep. (following an adjective) (Introduces its subject matter.) | |
| This behaviour is typical of teenagers. | |
| 29. prep. Having partitive effect. | |
| 30. prep. (following a number or other quantitive word) (Introduces the whole for which is indicated only the specified part or segment); "from among". | |
| Most of these apples are rotten. | |
| 31. prep. (following a noun) (Indicates a given part.) | |
| 32. prep. (now archaic, literary, with preceding partitive word assumed, or as a predicate after to be) Some, an amount of, one of. | |
| On the whole, they seem to be of the decent sort. | |
| 33. prep. (Links to a genitive noun or possessive pronoun, with partitive effect (though now often merged with possessive senses, below).) | |
| He is a friend of mine. | |
| 34. prep. Expressing possession. | |
| 35. prep. Belonging to, existing in, or taking place in a given location, place or time. Compare "origin" senses, above. | |
| He was perhaps the most famous scientist of the twentieth century. | |
| 36. prep. Belonging to (a place) through having title, ownership or control over it. | |
| The owner of the nightclub was arrested. | |
| 37. prep. Belonging to (someone or something) as something they possess or have as a characteristic; (the "possessive genitive". (With abstract nouns, this inter | |
| Keep the handle of the saucepan away from the flames. | |
| 38. prep. Forming the "objective genitive". | |
| 39. prep. (Follows an agent noun, verbal noun or noun of action.) | |
| She had a profound distrust of the police. | |
| 40. prep. Expressing qualities or characteristics. | |
| 41. prep. (now archaic, or literary) (Links an adjective with a noun or noun phrase to form a quasi-adverbial qualifier); in respect to, as regards. | |
| My companion seemed affable and easy of manner. | |
| 42. prep. (Indicates a quality or characteristic); "characterized by". | |
| Pooh was said to be a bear of very little brain. | |
| 43. prep. (Indicates quantity, age, price, etc.) | |
| We have been paying interest at a rate of 10%. | |
| 44. prep. (US, informal considered incorrect by some) (Used to link singular indefinite nouns (preceded by the indefinite article) and attributive adjectives mod | |
| It's not that big of a deal. | |
| 45. prep. Expressing a point in time. | |
| 46. prep. (chiefly regional) During the course of (a set period of time, day of the week etc.), now specifically with implied repetition or regularity. | |
| Of an evening, we would often go for a stroll along the river. | |
| 47. prep. (UK dialectal, chiefly in negative constructions) For (a given length of time). | |
| I've not tekken her out of a goodly long while. | |
| 48. prep. (after a noun) (Indicates duration of a state, activity etc.) | |
| After a delay of three hours, the plane finally took off. | |
| balance |
| 1. n. A state in which opposing forces harmonise; equilibrium. | |
| 2. n. Mental equilibrium; mental health; calmness, a state of remaining clear-headed and unperturbed. | |
| 3. n. (literally, or figuratively) Something of equal weight used to provide equilibrium; counterweight. | |
| These weights are used as a balance for the overhanging verandah. | |
| Blair thought he could provide a useful balance to Bush's policies. | |
| 4. n. A pair of scales. | |
| 5. n. Awareness of both viewpoints or matters; neutrality; rationality; objectivity. | |
| 6. n. The overall result of conflicting forces, opinions etc.; the influence which ultimately "weighs" more than others. | |
| The balance of power finally lay with the Royalist forces. | |
| I think the balance of opinion is that we should get out while we're ahead. | |
| 7. n. Apparent harmony in art (between differing colours, sounds, etc.). | |
| 8. n. (accounting) A list accounting for the debits on one side, and for the credits on the other. | |
| 9. n. (accounting) The result of such a procedure; the difference between credit and debit of an account. | |
| I just need to nip to a bank and check my balance. | |
| 10. n. (watchmaking) A device used to regulate the speed of a watch, clock etc. | |
| 11. n. (legal, business) The remainder. | |
| The balance of the agreement remains in effect. | |
| The invoice said he had only paid $50. The balance was $220. | |
| 12. n. (obsolete, astrology) Libra. | |
| 13. v. To bring (items) to an equipoise, as the scales of a balance by adjusting the weights. | |
| 14. v. (transitive, figurative) To make (concepts) agree. | |
| 15. v. To hold (an object or objects) precariously; to support on a narrow base, so as to keep from falling. | |
| I balanced my mug of coffee on my knee. | |
| The circus performer balances a plate on the end of a baton. | |
| 16. v. To compare in relative force, importance, value, etc.; to estimate. | |
| 17. v. (transitive, dancing) To move toward, and then back from, reciprocally. | |
| to balance partners | |
| 18. v. (nautical) To contract, as a sail, into a narrower compass. | |
| to balance the boom mainsail | |
| 19. v. To make the credits and debits of (an account) correspond. | |
| This final payment, or credit, balances the account. | |
| to balance a set of books | |
| 20. v. (intransitive) To be in equilibrium. | |
| 21. v. (intransitive) To have matching credits and debits. | |
