count out

verb

counted out; counting out; counts out

transitive verb

1

: to not include (someone) in an activity

If you are looking for people to help you clean the house today, count me out.

2

: to decide that (someone or something) cannot win or succeed

Don't count out our team just yet. They could still win.

3

: to count (a certain number of items to be separated from a quantity one is holding)

He counted out ten tickets and handed them to her.

4

: to signal the knockout of (a boxer who is down) by completing an audible count of 10 seconds before the boxer rises

Examples of count out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But, don't count out a return yet. —Patrick McAvoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025

The call-taker counted out loud with them to help keep the chest compressions at a steady pace. —Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 9 Oct. 2025

Like an old Western gunslinger, Costner has been counted out before — only to gallop back onto the screen, battered and bruised, riding toward the next horizon. —Peter Kiefer, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2025

Well, don’t count out the Dallas Cowboys just yet. —Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for count out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout