What does "outgo" mean?
A cost, expenditure, or outlay.
Outgo
/ˌaʊtˈɡəʊ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A cost, expenditure, or outlay.
- Grammar: outgo is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: expenditure, outlay, avenue, bang.
- Useful contrasts: arrival, entry, income.
- Usage evidence: So then it will alwayes bee found trew, that God outgoeth all our prayers, and all our wiſhes.
How to use "outgo"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "outgo" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "outgo" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "outgo" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "outgo" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "outgo" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "expenditure" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "outgo", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A cost, expenditure, or outlay. countable
"My farm outgoes for the first season were, for implements, seed, work, &c., $14 72½."
- 2 money paid out; an amount spent wordnet
- 3 The act or process of going out; (countable) an instance of this; an outgoing. uncountable
"Once again, after establishing an equally obvious fact, I succeeded in wringing from her the reluctant admission, "It depends," but she was so shattered by the bulk and force of this outgo, so fearful that in some way she had imperiled her life or reputation, so anxious concerning the effect that her unwilling testimony might have upon unborn generations, that she was of no real service the rest of the day."
- 4 The means by which something flows or goes out; an outlet. archaic, countable, obsolete
"The great Salt Lake of Utah is its principal body of water, and this has no visible outgo, though richly fed from various quarters."
- 5 A (quantity of a) substance or thing that has flowed out; an outflow. archaic, obsolete, rare, uncountable
"It cannot be doubted that the same persons are here meant as are spoken of in the preceding chapter, for their scorn was the outgo of the same frivolous mind which is there said to distinguish them."
Verb
- 1 To go further than (someone or something); to exceed, to go beyond, to surpass. archaic, transitive
"So then it will alwayes bee found trew, that God outgoeth all our prayers, and all our wiſhes."
- 2 be or do something to a greater degree wordnet
- 3 To experience, go through, or undergo (something). obsolete, transitive
"So ſince the vvinged God his planet cleare, / began in me to moue, one yeare is ſpent: / the vvhich doth longer vnto me appeare, / then al thoſe fourty vvhich my life outvvent."
- 4 To travel faster than (someone or something); to outstrip, to overtake. obsolete, transitive
"So trauelling, he chaunſt far off to heed, / A Damzell, flying on a palfrey faſt / Before tvvo Knights, […] Yet fled ſhe faſt, and both them farre outvvent, / Carried vvith vvings of feare, like fovvle aghaſt, / VVith locks all looſe, and rayment all to rent; […]"
- 5 To go out, to set forth, to set out. intransitive, regional
"I ſawe a ſhole of ſhepheardes outgoe, / With ſinging, and ſhouting, and iolly chere: […]"
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To go too far; to overextend or overreach. intransitive, obsolete
"But John / (Our Friend) Molleſſon, / Thought us to have out-gone / VVith a quaint Invention."
Example
"So then it will alwayes bee found trew, that God outgoeth all our prayers, and all our wiſhes."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "outgo"?
Common synonyms include: expenditure, outlay, avenue, bang, blowhole, channel.
How do you use "outgo" in a sentence?
So then it will alwayes bee found trew, that God outgoeth all our prayers, and all our wiſhes.
How do you pronounce "outgo"?
Pronounced /ˌaʊtˈɡəʊ/.
Etymology
PIE word *úd The verb is derived from Middle English outgon (“to go out, depart, leave; to come out, emerge; to escape; to protrude; of a sword: to be drawn; to emanate from (a place); to accompany”), from Old English ūtgān (“to go out”), Proto-West Germanic *ūtgān (“to go out”), equivalent to out- + go. See also go out. Compare Middle English outwenden (“to go out, depart, leave; to escape; to be emitted, fly out from; of a weapon: to be drawn”), which, like modern outgo, had the past tense and past participle form outwent. The noun is derived from modern English out- (prefix meaning ‘away from; toward the outside of’) + go. Sense 1 (“cost, expenditure, or outlay”) was probably modelled on income. Cognates * Scots outgae * West Frisian útgean * Dutch uitgaan * German Low German utgahn * German ausgehen * Swedish utgå