outside

1 of 4

noun

out·​side ˌau̇t-ˈsīd How to pronounce outside (audio)
ˈau̇t-ˌsīd
1
a
: a place or region beyond an enclosure or boundary: such as
(1)
: the world beyond the confines of an institution (such as a prison)
(2)
often capitalized in Alaska : the world beyond the territory or state of Alaska
especially : the 48 contiguous states
b
: the area farthest from a specified point of reference: such as
(1)
: the side of home plate farthest from the batter
(2)
: the part of a playing area toward the sidelines
(3)
: the part of a playing area away from the goal
2
: an outer side or surface
3
: an outer manifestation : appearance
4
: the extreme limit of a guess : maximum
the crowd numbered 10,000 at the outside

outside

2 of 4

adjective

1
a
: of, relating to, or being on or toward the outer side or surface
the outside edge
b
: of, relating to, or being on or toward the outer side of a curve or turn
c
: of, relating to, or being on or near the outside
an outside pitch
2
a
: situated or performed outside a particular place
b
: connected with or giving access to the outside
outside telephone line
3
4
a
: not included or originating in a particular group or organization
blamed the riot on outside agitators
b
: not belonging to one's regular occupation or duties
outside interests
5
: barely possible : remote
an outside chance
6
: made or done from the outside
borrowed a basketball and practiced his outside shot

outside

3 of 4

adverb

1
: on or to the outside
2

outside

4 of 4

preposition

1
used as a function word to indicate movement to or position on the outer side of
2
: beyond the limits of
outside the scope of this report
outside the law
3
: except

Examples of outside in a Sentence

Noun The house looks nice from the outside. painted the outside of the house Adjective the outside edge of the foot She turned on the outside light to see what was making the noise. The phone will not let you make outside calls. The company hired an outside consultant. a businessman with few outside interests besides golf There were outside influences that affected his decision to retire early. Adverb The children love playing outside. It's nice outside, with not a cloud in the sky. He ran outside to see what the noise was about. He looked outside at the snow. The candy was hard outside but chewy inside. The car seemed in good condition outside. Preposition We waited outside the store. He kept his hands outside his pockets. There was a dog barking outside the house. She finished the race five seconds outside the record. We live outside the city. I have never traveled outside the U.S. before. No one outside the group knew of their plans.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Despite the February slush outside, bouquets of orange ranunculus adorned the tables. Vogue, 14 Feb. 2024 Hoist the Gold broke on top with National Treasure setting up on his outside. John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2024 Southwest’s 11 outside board members (not including the company’s current and former chief executives or the directors elected this year) received average compensation of nearly $300,000 each in cash and stock grants last year. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2023 The country singer's wife Katelyn, 31, shared an adorable photo of her family of four on her Instagram on Wednesday, posing with Kane, 30, and their two kids on a bench outside. Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 14 Dec. 2023 As part of the settlement with FinCEN, Binance has 30 days to submit a proposal identifying at least three candidates to act as its outside monitor, who will ensure the exchange makes prescribed compliance changes. Mengqi Sun, WSJ, 22 Nov. 2023 Israeli officials counted at least 260 bodies near the site of the Nova festival, outside Re’im, where earlier footage showed carefree partygoers from Israel and overseas dancing in the desert soon after sunrise on Saturday. Paul P. Murphy, CNN, 9 Oct. 2023 Cons The slick ceramic interior coating prevented the chicken from achieving a crispy outside. Rennie Dyball, Peoplemag, 20 Oct. 2023 And even with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal sidelined because of injuries, the Suns still weathered a slow start by Durant while the Lakers’ outside shooting clanked shot after shot. Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2023
Adjective
The city relied on outside legal counsel to defend the case, Elliott added. Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024 In the chaotic month since, employees have called for an outside investigation and demanded their bosses’ resignations. Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024 Among White’s plans was also one to build and rent thousands of homes in an effort to diversify 40% of the company’s profits from outside retail by 2030. Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 14 Mar. 2024 To guard against coyotes, eliminate outside food sources. Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press, 14 Mar. 2024 Maintain equilibrium and do your best not to let outside influences manipulate or monopolize your time. Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024 Matthew manages the real estate auction division and with outside consultants and contractors continually updates the company’s website and technology infrastructure. Tony Roberts, Baltimore Sun, 8 Mar. 2024 To assuage concerns from lawmakers, TikTok has promised to wall off U.S. user data from its parent company through a separate entity run independently from ByteDance and monitored by outside observers. Kevin Freking, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2024 Fans will buy inexpensive ground passes early in the week and shuffle from one outside court to another. Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2024
Adverb
Investigators allege O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Read, hit him with her SUV in the Boston suburb of Canton in January 2022 and left him outside in the snow to die. Faith Karimi, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024 Afterward, many gathered outside, sipping tea and catching up. Emmanuel Felton, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024 Do some spring cleaning Go outside and enjoy nature Brainstorm new goals and projects Spiritual meaning of spring equinox 2024 The spring equinox and the start of the spring season celebrate an awakening and rebirth of the Earth, as well as growth. Marina Johnson, The Indianapolis Star, 15 Mar. 2024 Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid are packing on the PDA. Cooper, 49, and Hadid, 28, were seen sharing a kiss while dining outside together at Via Carota in New York City on Thursday. Tommy McArdle, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024 The rocks that break off the walls are carried outside in carts, washed, and sifted through. Astrid Suárez, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Mar. 2024 After opening in mid 2023 and closing in early January 2024, the popular barbecue restaurant at 7740 S. Lovers Lane Road is resuming operations with more indoor seating and plans to expand outside soon. Journal Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2024 Other moments in the show find more aesthetic ways of framing the world outside: Lotus L. Kang’s installation of slowly fogging sheets of light-sensitive film drape from the ceiling, reacting to the ambient light, space and time of the exhibition. Martha Schwendener, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 The agency advises staying in the shade, covering up outside and using sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher whenever the UV index is 3 or higher. Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 13 Mar. 2024
Preposition
Two people were arrested after a massive brawl broke out outside the Pike Outlets in Long Beach on Saturday. Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2024 In the weeks after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, activists gathered outside the Houston home of Sen. Ted Cruz to protest his refusal to certify President Biden’s election victory — as well as his decision to jet off to Cancún on vacation during a deadly local storm. Ann Marimow, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2024 Russians overseas also responded to the calls by Navalny’s supporters to protest at polling stations, forming long lines outside the Russian embassies in Berlin and London. Radina Gigova, CNN, 17 Mar. 2024 Defensive midfielder Alex Loera was first to come on board in December, with a few others, including veteran outside back Caprice Dydasco, quick to follow. Jason Mastrodonato, The Mercury News, 17 Mar. 2024 When he’s forced to return to work, Dougie ponders the mysteries of the cowboy statue outside the office complex at Brand Boulevard and Monterey Road in Glendale, Calif. Katie Rife, EW.com, 16 Mar. 2024 Bautista, 37, grew up in a conservative Christian community outside LA and didn’t come out until his late 20s. Leah Willingham, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024 The next slide showed the late-night scene with the presence of multiple Los Angeles Fire Department trucks, ambulances and emergency response vehicles parked outside the home with red lights flashing. Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Mar. 2024 The five-time Iditarod winner encountered the moose 14 miles outside the race checkpoint in Skwentna on Monday at 1:43 a.m. Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'outside.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1634, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

1813, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Preposition

1795, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of outside was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near outside

Cite this Entry

“Outside.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outside. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

outside

1 of 4 noun
out·​side (ˈ)au̇t-ˈsīd How to pronounce outside (audio)
ˈau̇t-ˌsīd
1
: a place or region beyond an enclosure or boundary
2
: an outer side or surface
3
: the extreme limit of a guess : most
the crowd numbered 10,000 at the outside

outside

2 of 4 adjective
1
: of, relating to, or being on the outside
the outside edge
2
: connected with or leading to the outside
an outside door
3
: coming from outside
outside influences
4
: barely possible : remote
an outside chance

outside

3 of 4 adverb
: on or to the outside
waited outside in the hall
especially : outdoors entry 1
took the dog outside

outside

4 of 4 preposition
1
: on or to the outside of
outside the house
2
: beyond the limits of
outside the law
3
: except entry 1 sense 2, besides
nobody outside a few close friends

More from Merriam-Webster on outside

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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