feel out

phrasal verb

felt out; feeling out; feels out
: to talk to or question (someone) in an indirect way in order to find out if something one wants to do or get will be possible
He tried to feel us out to see if we'd loan him more money.

Examples of feel out in a Sentence

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Even the film’s eccentricities that do feel out of a Pynchon novel — notably Lockjaw’s desire to join a secret society of white supremacists called the Christmas Adventurers Club — read as plausible in the current political climate. Andrew McGowan, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025 As a new Milwaukee Area Technical College student in 2012, Matthew Bennett felt out of place. Cleo Krejci, jsonline.com, 25 Sep. 2025 Nichols grew up in a happy home, but still felt out of place. Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025 Do this consistently, and referrals stop feeling out of reach. Sho Dewan, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for feel out

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Cite this Entry

“Feel out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feel%20out. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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