tune out

verb

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of tune out

transitive verb

: to become unresponsive to : ignore

intransitive verb

: to dissociate oneself from what is happening or one's surroundings

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Recent Examples of tune out from the Web

For Larson, the best way to tune out the noise was to focus on his performance in the car.

— peter dawson, star-telegram, "NASCAR ready for new stars to take lead? Maybe, but vets like Jimmie Johnson still have plenty left in tank | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 5 Apr. 2018
Or will Roseanne Barr’s tweets cause some viewers to tune out?

— hal boedeker, OrlandoSentinel.com, "'Roseanne' rules; what happens next?," 3 Apr. 2018
Wall Street investors have been tuning out Trump’s tweets for the better part of a year.

— david dayen, The New Republic, "No Sympathy for Amazon," 3 Apr. 2018
At times, Trump, who complained that McMaster was stubborn, didactic and long winded, seemed to tune out the active duty general.

— greg jaffe, Washington Post, "Trump names former ambassador John Bolton as his new national security adviser," 22 Mar. 2018
Most of us runners or walkers have the bad habit of tuning out while running or walking.

— katie parsons, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Tips for staying safe when working out in Central Florida," 27 Mar. 2018
In effect, Stormy changed the channel on Trump, tuning out his ceaseless need for ego gratification.

— rhonda garelick, The Cut, "Stormy Daniels’s Boring Interview Was Actually Brilliant," 26 Mar. 2018
The tendency when faced with such a firehose of news is to tune out.

— chris cillizza, CNN, "The 29(!) major Trump headlines this week," 23 Mar. 2018
Because the other option—viewers becoming overwhelmed with the state of current events and tuning out—is just too harrowing to allow.

— laura bradley, HWD, "How Late Night Sharpened Its Teeth in the Age of Trump," 9 Mar. 2017

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

First Known Use of tune out

1908

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tune out

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