lose out

verb

lost out; losing out; loses out

intransitive verb

: to fail to win in competition : fail to receive an expected reward or gain

Examples of lose out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nairobi narrowly lost out on hosting in 2025 due to infrastructure concerns, but has since conducted significant renovations on the Kasarani Stadium, which will host the athletes. — Paige Bruton, semafor.com, 16 Sep. 2026

Crate-free producers have been able to continue to sell their pork into California and Massachusetts, while farms that did use the crates had to spend money to retrofit their barns or lose out on participating in those markets. — Kenny Torrella, Vox, 9 Sep. 2026

Shough might have been the Day One starter last season but lost out to Spencer Rattler. — Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Without the 43 inverters, the district is losing out on about 7,860 kilowatts of electricity, or nearly eight of the 11 megawatts promised in the past. — Sierra Lopez, Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1858, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lose out

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