outing

Pluraloutings

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A short trip taken for pleasure or recreation, usually away from one's home or routine.

   The hiking club organized an outing to the coastal cliffs.

   Their Sunday outing took them through three small mountain villages.

   Similartrip, excursion, jaunt, expedition

   Note

   Older in shape than it looks: English built it from out plus -ing, and Old English had a similar word, yting, for an outing or journey. The pleasure lies in getting away. A 1944 Railway Magazine memoir, "Some Memories of Crewe Works," calls a day out "a fine day's outing" for anyone "cooped up in the shops." The word sits easily with time words: a day's outing, a Sunday outing.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   The act of publicly revealing that a person is gay or transgender without their consent.

   The reporter's outing of the politician was widely condemned as unethical.

   Activists warned that a careless outing could endanger people in hostile communities.

   Similarexposure

   Note

   Built on the verb out, an outing is done to someone. That separates it from coming out, which a person chooses for themselves. Matthew Hoddie's Ethnic Realignments (2006) speaks of "forced outings" of gay and lesbian troops. The phrase shows that the noun is countable and that consent is the heart of the matter. The wider spy-and-secrets sense shares the same verb but carries none of this weight.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   The act of revealing that somebody holds a particular secret, such as being a spy or undercover detective.

   The journalist's outing of the double agent ended his career in intelligence.

   An accidental outing exposed the detective who had spent months building his cover.

   Similarexposure, unmasking

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A public performance or appearance, such as in a play, film, album, or sporting contest.

   The band's new album marks their strongest outing in a decade.

   The goalkeeper had a shaky outing against the league leaders.

   Similarperformance, appearance, showing

   Note

   The trip of the pleasure-trip sense becomes a turn in public: an actor's role, a band's album and a player's match each count as an outing. The word usually takes a modifier saying which kind or how it went. BBC News in 2012 called a role Daniel Radcliffe's "latest dramatic outing." Because it is countable, a career can be measured in outings, each one judged strong or shaky.

5. 5
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of out.

   The tabloid was accused of outing a public figure against their wishes.

   Outing a coworker without her consent broke the company's privacy rules.

   Note

   Here the word is still a verb, and the test is the object. The verb form takes it directly, as in outing a public figure, while the noun needs of, as in the outing of a politician. The verb out can mean to expel, to reveal a secret, to reveal someone as LGBTQ+, or even to kill, and the -ing form inherits every one of these meanings. Context, not spelling, decides which is meant.

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