come out

verb

came out; come out; coming out; comes out

intransitive verb

1

a

: to come into public view : make a public appearance

a new magazine has come out

b

: to become evident

his pride came out in his refusal to accept help

2

: to declare oneself especially in public utterance

came out in favor of the proposal

3

: to turn out in an outcome : end up

everything came out all right

4

: to make a debut

5

a

: to openly declare one's sexual orientation or gender identity

came out as bisexual

decided to come out to her family

b

: to openly declare something about oneself previously kept hidden

—often used with as

blew his cover and came out as a CIA agent

—William Prochnau

coming-out

ˌkə-miŋ-ˈau̇t 

noun

Phrases

come out with

1

: to give expression to

came out with a new proposal

2

: publish

Synonyms

• fall out
• pan out
• prove
• shake out
• turn out

Examples of come out in a Sentence

in the end everything came out OK

come out, come out wherever you are!

Recent Examples on the Web

After several years of virtual or hybrid events, Music Forward Foundation — a national non-profit in the Live Nation family — returned last year to a fully in-person convention, which Smith says made a huge impact coming out of the pandemic. —Taylor Mims, Billboard, 5 Apr. 2024

The Middletown project had never before surfaced publicly and seemingly came out of the blue. —Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2024

The reality is that money spent on sports doesn’t come out of thin air. —Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024

After more than four decades in business, the chain has succumbed to financial pressures affecting many retail spaces coming out of the pandemic, including inflation and shrinkage — a term for inventory losses due to factors such as shoplifting, employee error and product damage. —Emma Bowman, NPR, 5 Apr. 2024

Resumes can go a long way for one, and coming out of a major program like YC (or, in the case of basketball, Duke or Kentucky) can make a difference. —Byallie Garfinkle, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024

The cold-blooded reptiles typically come out of hiding in the morning to soak up the sun until about 2 or 3 p.m., Folio said. —Helena Wegner, Sacramento Bee, 5 Apr. 2024

Brooks, a woman, and two children came out of the apartment after officers gave commands for everyone in the apartment to come outside. —Nicole Lopez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Apr. 2024

Deal describes The Breeder’s appearance on The GUTS Tour — which revels in Rodrigo’s feminine take on teenage rebellion and emotion — as especially exciting, since the group came out of a music landscape when women in rock were really beginning to carve out their own lane. —Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

come out

verb

1

: to come into public view

2

: to turn out to be

everything came out all right