Dictionary

come out en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/
• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see come, out.
   • “It was nice that your dad let you come out with us,” I said as we walked through the woods, kicking up cornflakey bundles of leaves with every step. 2009, Liz Kessler, Philippa Fisher and the Dream-Maker’s Daughter, Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press, →ISBN, page 96:
   • The mouse came out of the hole.
2. (intransitive) To be discovered; to be revealed.
   • Her lies will eventually come out.
   • It finally came out that he had been lying all the time.
3. (intransitive) To be published or released; to be issued; to be broadcast for the first time.
   • Her interview comes out in the next edition of the newspaper.
   • My new book comes out next week.
   • The song came out on radio in 1967.
4. (dated, historical, of a debutante) To make a formal debut in society.
   • My daughter comes out in the spring.
   • "You would not trouble it much, child," returned Lady Anne, pettishly; "you know you are the plain one of the family. I do not know what I shall do with you when you come out; you will have no beauty but that of youth." 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 63:
   • The 1958 “coming out” season, where young women were launched into high society, was the last ceremony hosted by the monarch. 2024 March 18, Owen Bowcott, “Rose Dugdale obituary”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
5. (copulative) To end up or result; to turn out to be.
   • I have looked into some of the reasons why Del-Norte still lacks proper medical staff to deal with situations in here. The result of that came out to be, they don't want to spend money on things like that. 1991 April 22, Jacque Ferguson, “Change Medical Care”, in Gay Community News, page 5:
   • There were a lot of problems at the start, but it all came out well in the end.
   • The photos came out fine.
6. (of a batsman) To walk onto the field at the beginning of an innings.
7. (idiomatic, informal) To come out of the closet.
   • In March 2017, a 90-year-old second world war veteran called Patricia Davies came out as a transgender woman and began taking hormones, shortly after discussing her lifelong gender dysphoria with her doctor. 2021 August 24, Shon Faye, “‘I feel like it’s quite shaky acceptance’: trans kids and the fight for inclusion”, in The Guardian:
   • Like many gay Chinese growing up at the turn of the millennium, Duan Shuai began his long, deliberate process of coming out online. After school, he would visit the newly opened internet cafe in his hometown, Xinzhou, a small city in Shanxi Province bounded by a veil of mountains. He would pick a desktop facing away from the wall so that nobody could look over his shoulder. Then he’d go to QQ, the new instant-messaging service and online forum, and type in the Chinese word for “homosexual” — tongzhi, or comrade. 2020 March 5, Yi-Ling Liu, “How a Dating App Helped a Generation of Chinese Come Out of the Closet”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2020, Feature:
   • I had not come out yet and he was out but wasn't; quite ungay, I would say, and yet gay. 2011, Allan Bérubé, My Desire for History: Essays in Gay, Community, and Labor History:
   • He came out to his parents as gay last week.
8. To originate in; to derive from; to be taken from out of or to have arrived from.
   • That comes out of my paycheck.
   • He's the best player to come out of Ohio.
9. To express one's opinion openly.
   • Hendy has come out as something of an evangelist for discontinuous electrification. For Waterloo-Exeter, this could make real sense on a route where the high capital cost of wiring or third rail all the way to Devon would be prohibitive. But what about his vocal support for it on East West Rail, which is effectively a brand new line? 2025 February 19, Paul Clifton, “I am absolutely committed to reforming the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 41:
   • I came right out and told the boss what I thought of him.
   • You had come out in favor of the French Revolution.
10. (of the sun, qualifier:moon or stars) To become visible in the sky as a result of clouds clearing away.
    • It's quite warm now the sun has come out.
11. To protest or go on strike, especially out of solidarity with other workers.
    • We're coming out for the campaign and for all the struggling people out there.
    • We got the folks at the Detroit plant to come out too.
12. To make a debut in a new field; to start off a career or reputation.
    • Here's some tips for coming out as an artist.
    • By the year 2000, Shanghai is scheduled to become an international center of commerce and finance; economic strategists predict that by 2010 the city will have become the world's largest trading center. This "secret capital" of China has set some ambitious goals for itself. The population is proudly celebrating their collective "coming out," and business is booming. 1999, “Shanghai”, in The Book of the World, 2nd United States edition (Atlas), Macmillan, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 411, column 1:
    • Spirit-rapping made easy; or, how to come out as a medium.
13. (intransitive) To emerge from or reach the end of an era, event or process.
    • I was coming out of a period of unemployment then.
14. (intransitive, of a stain) To be removed.
    • Red wine will help that stain come out.
15. (intransitive, slang) To join a church; to convert to a religion.
    • I came out after a period of difficulty in my life.
16. (intransitive) To begin with something.
    • He came out with a pair of kings.

Forms

Deriveds

come out of the closet · the handbags come out · come out of the broom closet · come-outer · come out with · come out of one's shell · come out in the wash

Descendants

komot · komoto

Translations (94)

fi päättyä (to end up) · nog шыгув (to exit) · ckb دەرچوون (to be discovered, be revealed) · ca sortir (to be published, be issued) · fi ilmetä (to be discovered, be revealed) · kk шығу (to exit) · gl saír (to end up) · ar غَادَرَ (to exit) · arz خرج (to exit) · te బయటపడు (to exit) · pt sair (to exit) · ja 出る (to exit) · ro ieși (to exit) · gl saír (to exit) · oc sortir (to exit) · gsw usechoo (to exit) · xdq ттура́ бирка́ра (to exit) · az çıxmaq (to exit) · ko 나오다 (to exit) · es pronunciarse en favor/en contra (express opinion) · cy dod allan (to exit) · ang āgān (to be discovered, be revealed) · es resular (to be published, be issued) · wa vudî (to exit) · uga 𐎊𐎕𐎀 (to exit) · tr çıkmak (to exit) · kjh сығарға (to exit) · cmn 出來 /出来 (to exit) · ru выходи́ть (to exit) · txb lät- (to exit) · fi poistua (to exit) · el βγάζω (to exit) · es revelarse (to be discovered, be revealed) · swb ulawa (to exit) · ca resultar (to be discovered, be revealed) · fro sortir (to exit) · gl revelarse (to be discovered, be revealed) · cmn 出 (to exit) · ky чыгуу (to exit) · de herauskommen (to be discovered, be revealed) · es salir (to exit) · mg mivoaka (to exit) · el βγαίνω (to exit) · hu kijön (to be published, be issued) · fi ilmestyä (to be published, be issued) · wa sôrti (to exit) · ca sortir (to end up) · shy yeffeɣ (to exit) · wa moussî foû (to exit) · crh çıqmaq (to exit) · eo elveni (to exit) · wa sôrti (to be published, be issued) · wa vudî (to be published, be issued) · krc чыгъаргъа (to exit) · nl uitkomen (to be published, be issued) · ses farta (to exit) · tt чыгу (to exit) · sah таҕыс (to exit) · grc ἐξέρχομαι (to exit) · xdq ттура́ ця́на (to exit) · wa moussî foû (to be published, be issued) · cv тух (to exit) · xdq чигьяна (to exit) · fr sortir (to be published, be issued) · gl saír á luz (to be discovered, be revealed) · fr sortir (to exit) · wa rexhe (to be published, be issued) · ar خَرَجَ (to exit) · eo eliri (to exit) · arn txipan (to exit) · es salir (to be published, be issued) · es salir a la luz (to be discovered, be revealed) · ba сығыу (to exit) · he יָצָא (to exit) · de weggehen (to exit) · gag çikmaa (to exit) · ca sortir (to exit) · ca eixir (to exit) · sh izaći (to exit) · fi debytoida (to make a formal debut) · fro issir (to exit) · fi ilmetä (to make a formal debut) · ru вы́йти (to exit) · pt deixar (to exit) · zdj uroha (to exit) · kum чыкъмакъ (to exit) · pt partir (to exit) · gl saír (to be published, be issued) · gl publicarse (to be published, be issued) · ckb دەرچوون (to be published, be issued) · wa rexhe (to exit) · tk çykmak (to exit) · de hinausgehen (to exit) · io ekirar (to exit)