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

When does the next episode of 'The Last of Us' Season 2 come out? —Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 11 May 2025

So my brother and father stepped in and came out instead. —Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 May 2025

Smith is now five months pregnant and recently came out of her first trimester, which was difficult for her due to experiencing prenatal depression and having high levels of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. —Dominique Fluker, Essence, 11 May 2025

Despite all the headlines, Tate says developments are still going to come out of the ground — including his own. —Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, 11 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for come out

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout

Kids Definition

come out

verb

1

: to come into public view

2

: to turn out to be

everything came out all right