What does "cookout" mean?

A gathering for a meal that is cooked and eaten outside; either a domestic barbecue or a larger social event.

What is a synonym for "cookout"?

Common synonyms include: alfresco meal, barbecue, breakfast, brunch, buffet supper, clambake.

//ˈkʊkaʊt// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A gathering for a meal that is cooked and eaten outside; either a domestic barbecue or a larger social event. US
2
an informal meal cooked and eaten outdoors wordnet

"Tom hosted a cookout in his backyard."

From cook + out.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.