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 agentWilliam Prochnau
coming-out noun
Phrases
come out with
1
: to give expression to
came out with a new proposal
2

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 Essential reading: How to cook a simple, flavorful pot of beans and use it throughout the week A former omnivore comes out as vegetarian 1/3 End of carousel Thank goodness for the accidents. Joe Yonan, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2024 The brand is always coming out with new colors and prints in this collection. Jean Chen Smith, Travel + Leisure, 24 Mar. 2024 Elliot Page came to the Junos Awards on Sunday night to denounce a rollback of LGBTQ2+ rights after the Umbrella Academy star came out as a transgender and nonbinary at the end of 2020. Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Mar. 2024 Fired Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich finally came out a winner — barely — through the sale of his south Charlotte home. Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 23 Mar. 2024 In 2018, Totah came out as a trans woman through a personal letter published by Time. Chris Barilla, Peoplemag, 23 Mar. 2024 Chicago State came out hot in the second half, outscoring UCSD 15-6 in the first four-plus minutes. Union-Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2024 In his first film role since coming out as a trans man, the actor has evidently brought much of his own identity and experience to this sensitively observed story of a trans man cagily reunited with his family after a five-year period of estrangement. Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Mar. 2024 The Disney family Nine grandchildren of the media company’s co-founder, Walt and Roy Disney, have come out against Peltz’s plans. Bruce Gil, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'come out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of come out was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near come out

Cite this Entry

“Come out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/come%20out. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

come out

verb
1
: to come into public view
2
: to turn out to be
everything came out all right

More from Merriam-Webster on come out

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