get out

phrasal verb · interjection · get-out noun

18 meanings of get out

1
escape a placephrasal verbintransitive
To leave a place, or to escape from one.
The miners were trapped for two days before they could get out.
We need to get out of the city before the storm hits.
Similarleave, escape, exit
Oppositeenter
Note
The plain verb of leaving takes of before the place it leaves: get out of the city, get out of the building, or simply get out when the place is obvious. Its past participle splits by country: British English says the miners have got out, American English that they have gotten out. The simple past is got out on both sides of the Atlantic.
2
leave vehiclephrasal verbintransitive
To leave the inside of a vehicle, such as a car or taxi.
She pulled over so her son could get out in front of the school.
The driver got out to check the flat tire.
Note
Cars and taxis are vehicles you sit inside, and you get out of them; buses, trains and other public transport are more often left with get off. So a passenger gets out of a cab at the corner but gets off a bus at the stop. When the vehicle is understood, the phrase stands alone: I'll get out at the end of the road and walk.
3
order to leaveinterjection
Used as a command ordering someone to leave.
“Get out!” the landlord roared, pointing at the door.
Get out! Out of my house, and take your lies with you!
Note
Taken at its word, the interjection is an order, blunt and usually angry, and it often grows into a fuller one: Get out of my house! The same two words also serve as a cry of disbelief and a groan at a bad joke, where nobody is meant to leave; tone and situation are all that tell a listener which one is meant.
4
take from storagephrasal verbtransitive
To bring something out of storage or its container so that it can be used or put on display.
It's finally cold enough to get out the winter coats.
He got out his best china for the dinner party.
5
phrasal verbintransitive
To come out of a situation, or to escape a particular fate.
Once you join the gang, it's almost impossible to get out.
Few soldiers in that battle got out alive.
Similarescape
6
become knownphrasal verbintransitive
To become known, as news or a secret does when people learn of it.
News of the merger got out before the companies could announce it.
The cast promised not to let the ending get out before the premiere.
Similarleak, spread
7
be allowed outphrasal verbintransitive
To be released from confinement, most often from a hospital or a prison.
When he got out after twelve years inside, the neighborhood was unrecognizable.
The doctors say she should get out by the weekend if her fever stays down.
8
rescuephrasal verbtransitive
To help someone leave a place, or make it possible for them to leave.
Rescue teams spent two days trying to get out the miners trapped underground.
Her lawyer got the whole family out before the borders closed.
Similarrescue, evacuate
Note
With a person as its object the phrase becomes a rescue verb, and its word order is flexible: the object can sit between the two words or after them, get the children out or get out the miners. A pronoun must go in the middle, get them out and never get out them, and a long object usually comes last. Every transitive use of get out follows the same pattern.
9
disbeliefinterjection
Used to express disbelief at what someone has just said.
“She's moving to Paris next month.” “Get out! She's never even left the state.”
“Get out, you ran the whole marathon?” he said, laughing in disbelief.
Similarreally
Note
Here the exclamation answers news too surprising to accept rather than ordering anyone away. In H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds (1898), a lieutenant told of armored giants a hundred feet high replies "Get out!" and then "What confounded nonsense!", which shows the tone: disbelief that half accuses the speaker of making the story up.
10
event endsphrasal verbintransitive
To end, said especially of school or another session that people attend.
The kids count the days until school gets out for the summer.
The meeting got out late, and half the team missed the early train.
Similarend, finish
Oppositestart (entry), begin

11
publishphrasal verbtransitive
To publish or release something, or to spread it widely.
The charity is working hard to get the word out about its free clinics.
Our small press can get out a new title every month.
Similarpublish, release, spread
12
social lifephrasal verbintransitive
To spend leisure time away from home rather than staying in.
After the baby arrived, they hardly ever got out in the evenings.
Joining a hiking club is a great way to get out and meet people.
13
say with effortphrasal verbtransitive
To manage to say something, but only with difficulty.
Gasping for breath, the runner finally got out a few words.
She was laughing too hard to get the punch line out.
Similarutter
14
remove stainphrasal verbtransitive
To remove dirt or a stain from something.
A paste of baking soda and water helped get out the coffee stain.
Nothing we tried could get the red wine out of the carpet.
Similarremove
15
loopholenoun · get-outcolloquialcountable
A chance or means of escaping an unwanted situation, such as a legal loophole.
Blaming the weather was a convenient get-out for the late delivery.
The deal includes a get-out clause, so either side can walk away after a year.
Similarloophole, escape
Note
The noun is made from the verb and written with a hyphen to show it: you get out of an obligation by finding a get-out. It often names an excuse rather than a real way out; in John Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes (1953), official apologies about technical difficulties are "the regular kind of get-out". A get-out clause is the contract term written in for that purpose.
16
exit investmentphrasal verbintransitive
To take one's money out of an investment, ending one's stake in it.
Many early investors got out before the bubble burst.
If the fund drops another ten percent, we get out.
Similarsell
17
not funnyinterjectionslangIrelandUK
Used to express disapproval or disgust, especially in response to a bad joke.
"Get out, mate, that's the worst pun I've heard all year."
When he stirred ketchup into his tea, Ciara pulled a face and said, "Get out, that's rank."
Note
British and Irish slang turns the order into a groan: someone has told a pun so bad it deserves a protest, and the listeners answer Get out! or Just get out. Nobody is actually sent away; the words dismiss the joke rather than the person. Being slang, it belongs to casual talk among friends, not to formal speech.
18
removing scenerynoun · get-outcountable
The taking down and removal of scenery, equipment and the like when a production leaves a theater or television studio at the end of its run.
The get-out took six hours, and the next company's trucks were waiting outside by dawn.
First-time producers often forget to budget for get-out costs on a tour.
Similarstrike
Oppositeget-in
Note
Theater crews pair it with its opposite, the get-in, when scenery and equipment arrive and go up. In a busy house one company's get-out has to finish before the next company's get-in can start, and producers are advised to put get-out costs in the production budget rather than the running budget.

Practice

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Origin

A deverbal noun from the verb get out.