flunk out

verb

|Updated on: 17 May 2018

Definition of flunk out

intransitive verb

: to be dismissed from a school or college for failure

transitive verb

: to dismiss from a school or college for failure

See flunk out defined for kids

Recent Examples of flunk out from the Web

These questions look like they were prepared by a first year law student who flunked out for being patently stupid.

— Fox News, "Storm over Giuliani interviews," 7 May 2018
McManus, Stimson said, nearly flunked out of Washington State University but then got serious about writing, and remained so for the rest of his life, dedicating a certain part of each day to writing and telling his students to do the same.

— Washington Post, "Outdoors humor columnist Patrick F. McManus dies at 84," 13 Apr. 2018
But the sad, almost inevitable result is that the absent student will flunk out of college — attendance is one of the primary markers for success in the first year of college and for ultimate completion of the college degree.

— patricia mcguire, Washington Post, "After the scandals, what happens to public school students in college?," 1 Mar. 2018
The negative consequences may not be obvious at first, because the pass rates in these courses are very high and students who take them tend to graduate from high school instead of flunking out.

— susan dynarski, New York Times, "Online Courses Are Harming the Students Who Need the Most Help," 19 Jan. 2018
Nobody flunks out, and the consultant class self-perpetuates.

— sarah jones, New Republic, "The DNC Is Broken," 3 Nov. 2017
The other backup, Brock Osweiler, flunked out with the Houston Texans and the Cleveland Browns.

— tom krasovic, sandiegouniontribune.com, "This is one comeback Elway may not soon pull off," 23 Oct. 2017
This is the same Groff, who will graduate in December with a degree in Communications, who flunked out of school and missed a year.

— branson wright, cleveland.com, "Baldwin Wallace linebacker Sam Groff regroups in classroom, dominates on field (video)," 19 Oct. 2017
Vladimir Voevodsky, formerly a gifted but restless student who flunked out of college out of boredom before emerging as one of the most brilliant and revolutionary mathematicians of his generation, died on Sept. 30 at his home in Princeton, N.J.

— julie rehmeyer, New York Times, "Vladimir Voevodsky, Revolutionary Mathematician, Dies at 51," 6 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'flunk out.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.