oust

verb \ ˈau̇st \

|Updated on: 7 Jun 2018

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Examples: oust in a Sentence

Definition of oust

transitive verb

1 a : to remove from or dispossess of property or position by legal action, by force, or by the compulsion of necessity

The rebels ousted the dictator from power.

b : to take away (something, such as a right or authority) : bar, remove

The states do not like attempts by Congress to oust their jurisdiction.

2 : to take the place of : supplant

must be careful that quantity does not oust quality
—R. V. Williams

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Examples of oust in a Sentence

The rebels ousted the dictator from power.
Large national banks are ousting local banks in many communities.

Recent Examples of oust from the Web

But over the past 11 months, five tenants of a North End affordable housing complex emerged as the public faces of a successful campaign to oust their landlord, Queens, N.Y., resident Emmanuel Ku.

— matthew ormseth, Courant Community, "These Tenants Took On A Millionaire Absentee Landlord — And Won," 3 June 2018
Bossy has been ousted by Risqué, a deeper raspberry red.

— devon abelman, Allure, "7 Ways Huda Beauty's New Rose Gold Remastered Eye Palette Is Different From the Original," 25 May 2018
Twenty-one years later, though, the U.S. military invaded to oust Torrijos’s truculent successor, Manuel Noriega, and install a more pliant regime.

— jon lee anderson, The New Yorker, "The Diplomat Who Quit the Trump Administration," 19 May 2018
This is far from the first time Uber has faced issues over its drivers assaulting customers: Last year, an executive was ousted after obtaining the medical records of a woman raped by her Uber driver in India.

— madeline buxton, refinery29.com, "The Option To Request Female Drivers Isn’t The Solution To Uber’s Sexual Assault Issues," 2 May 2018
Now, it's being worn in solidarity in Sweden after Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, was ousted after a #MeToo scandal rocked the academy.

— erin reimel, Glamour, "This Is the Important Reason Women in Sweden Are Wearing Pussybow Blouses," 14 Apr. 2018
The conglomerate reportedly invested €100m (£88m) to help restore the label's fortunes which have been suffering since before Elbaz was ousted in 2015.

— ella alexander, Harper's BAZAAR, "Olivier Lapidus exits Lanvin after less than a year," 22 Mar. 2018
Google ousted Chris Urmson as head of the driverless car project in favor of auto industry veteran John Krafcik.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "Congress debates allowing tens of thousands of cars with no steering wheel," 16 Mar. 2018
Massa claims fellow Democrats ousted him because of his position on health care.

— Newsweek, "Amazing Photos of Bioluminescent Phytoplankton," 14 Mar. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of oust

Middle English, from Anglo-French oster, ouster to take off, remove, oust, from Late Latin obstare to ward off, from Latin, to stand in the way, from ob- in the way + stare to stand — more at ob-, stand

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

oust Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of oust

eject, expel, oust, evict mean to drive or force out. eject carries an especially strong implication of throwing or thrusting out from within as a physical action.