rough out
phrasal verb
roughed out; roughing out; roughs out
: to make (something, such as a drawing or a list) quickly and without including all the details
We'll rough out a general plan.
Examples of rough out in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
With camp roughed out, the wrangler stayed back to manage details, including supper.
—
Scott Haugen, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2025
Your Daytona 500 winner looked rough out West: Less than a week after winning his second consecutive Daytona 500, Hamlin returned to the track for a disappointing performance in Vegas.
—Shane Connuck, Charlotte Observer, 3 Mar. 2024
In the summer of 1942, Oppenheimer organized a series of secret seminars at Berkeley, where the United States’ top physicists roughed out the outlines of a possible bomb.
—Andy Kifer, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 July 2023
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Scott Haugen, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2025
Your Daytona 500 winner looked rough out West: Less than a week after winning his second consecutive Daytona 500, Hamlin returned to the track for a disappointing performance in Vegas.
—Shane Connuck, Charlotte Observer, 3 Mar. 2024
In the summer of 1942, Oppenheimer organized a series of secret seminars at Berkeley, where the United States’ top physicists roughed out the outlines of a possible bomb.
—Andy Kifer, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 July 2023
Cite this Entry
“Rough out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rough%20out. Accessed 6 Sep. 2025.
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