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 However, Heritage Action, the advocacy arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, came out in support of the bill and urged lawmakers to vote for it on Wednesday. USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2024 The claws are coming out in the Indiana governor's race. Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 12 Mar. 2024 Miyazaki came out of retirement to make the film, which follows a young boy who moves to the countryside after losing his mother in a hospital fire and encounters a magical grey heron. Chris Lau, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024 In The Searcher, after questioning a few witnesses and ignoring his craggy old neighbor Mart’s warnings to mind his business, the truth about what happened to Trey’s brother comes out in a sudden rush of confession, the least satisfying of all mystery reveals. Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2024 Bake cupcakes: Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Pam Lolley, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2024 Nobody's going to just come out and give you a job. Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 10 Mar. 2024 A lot of teams come out intimidated in an environment like that. Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024 The Crystal Bridges event will come out in the show's next season, which begins in 2025. Doug Thompson, arkansasonline.com, 29 Feb. 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 19 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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