outsource

verb

out·source | \ˈau̇t-ˌsȯrs

outsourced; outsourcing; outsources

Definition of outsource

: to procure (something, such as some goods or services needed by a business or organization) from outside sources and especially from foreign or nonunion suppliers : to contract for work, jobs, etc., to be done by outside or foreign workers decided to outsource some back-office operations Some services and aspects of production were outsourced to cut costs. Firms outsource to capitalize on their strengths while minimizing business activities that are not core functions.— John K. Borchardt — compare insource

Examples of outsource in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In their telling, with solid standards in place, businesses would have less incentive to outsource and workers get to share in the benefits of trade. — David Dayen, The New Republic, "The Inevitable Death of Global Trade As We Know It," 12 July 2018 Hinckley’s recent action to outsource custodial service with Alpha Building Maintenance, of Homer Glen, Ill., was estimated by officials to save the district about $907,000. — Carole Carlson, Post-Tribune, "Last hurrah: Gary's final school board meeting marred by rancor," 13 June 2018 Union members in the Herald newsroom and advertising department last Thursday approved a new two-year contract that kept pay levels stable but left the door open for outsourcing. — Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, "Digital First Media completes acquisition of Herald, ending 24 years of local ownership," 19 Mar. 2018 Durbree said union members are emphasizing job security, specifically keeping the company from outsourcing call centers overseas and limiting the use of outside contractors, in the new contract. — Jordyn Hermani, Indianapolis Star, "AT&T employee walkout ends with no contract agreement reached," 6 June 2018 The contractors created a company to expand their work with the CIA, allowing the CIA to outsource the program at a cost $180 million dollars. — Lauren Walker, Newsweek, "Senate Intelligence Committee Releases CIA Torture Report," 9 Dec. 2014 The Chamber is also recommending the district outsource services like nursing and tech support and suspend bus services for high school students in favor of utilizing the city's public transit system. — Arika Herron, Indianapolis Star, "Chamber calls for nearly $500M in IPS cuts in exchange for support of $100M tax hike," 11 July 2018 All this has given outsourcing a new lease of life. — The Economist, "Run, TaskRabbit, run: July 2030," 5 July 2018 Earlier this year, the village board moved toward outsourcing the crossing guard services in light of problems both finding and retaining people to serve in the part-time jobs, which sometimes forced public safety officers to serve in that role. — Daniel I. Dorfman, chicagotribune.com, "Glencoe amends village manager contract to increase pay, remove housing assistance and provided car," 3 July 2018

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