Word.ws English Dictionary

exit

Syllables: ex·it/ˈɛksɪt//ˈeɪɡzɪt/

exit noun: an act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure.

exit: an act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure
Image: Alton, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

exit (plural exits)

  1. An act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure.
    • He made his exit at the opportune time.
    • On the firſt Day of the eleventh Month of the fortieth Year after the Exit from Egypt, Moſes, after he had numbred the People in the Plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, and found that there was not left a Man of thoſe, whom he had almoſt forty Years before numbered in the Wilderneſs of Sinai...1740, Samuel Shuckford, “Book XI”, in The Sacred and Prophane History of the World Connected, […], 2nd edition, volume III, London: Printed for H. Knaplock, and J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, →OCLC...
    Synonyms:
    egress, outgoing
    1. (specifically) The action of an actor leaving a scene or the stage.
      • All the world's a ſtage, / And all the men and women, meerely Players; / They haue their Exits and their Entrances, / And one man in his time playes many parts, / His Acts being ſeuen ages.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
      • Why do directors assume that exits and entrances need not be rehearsed?1968, Leon C. Miller, “Blocking the Play”, in How to Direct the High School Play, Chicago, Ill.: The Dramatic Publishing Company, →OCLC, pages 39 and 43
  2. An opening or passage through which one can go from inside a place (such as a building, a room, or a vehicle) to the outside; an egress.
    • emergency exit fire exit
    • He was looking for the exit and got lost.
    Synonyms:
    outgang, outway
  3. A minor road (such as a ramp or slip road) which is used to leave a major road (such as an expressway, highway, or motorway).
    • There are no services at the next exit.
    • When signs are erected giving notice thereof, no person shall drive a vehicle onto or from any controlled access highway except at such entrances and exits as have been designated by the department.1972, “Article III—Driving on Right Side of Roadway—Overtaking and Passing—Use of Roadway”, in Traffic Laws Annotated, Washington, D.C.: National Committee on Uniform Laws and Ordinances, →OCLC, §...
  4. (euphemistic, figuratively, often) The act of departing from life; death.
    • the untimely exit of a respected politician
    • However, there are no ideas strike more forcibly upon our imaginations, than those which are raised from reflections upon the exits of great and excellent men.1711 August 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “WEDNESDAY, August 2, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 133; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a...

Verb (1)

exit (third-person singular simple present exits, present participle exiting, simple past and past participle exited)

  1. (intransitive) To go out or go away from a place or situation; to depart, to leave.
    • Come, good Remus, our men await us. Let the lion roar and roam to-day; he may be of service; to-morrow, perchance we'll chain him. [Exit Stephano right fourth entrance. Soft music. Remus, exiting, looks hard at Romulus. Exit Remus right fourth entrance.]1873, Henry A. Carroll, Romulus: An Historical Tragedy, in Five Acts, Memphis, Tenn.: Partee & Matthews, book and job printers, →OCLC, act I, scene iii, page 13
    • Lucy enters at 11 o'clock and runs to her mother after blowing kiss to audience with both hands. They both exit at 11 o'clock, after Appleby's line. Ethel crosses to her victim at 3 o'clock, winks at him and then looks over her shoulder as she crosses to door at 1 o'clock, where she speaks her line...1971, Henning Nelms, “Note on Curtain Calls”, in Only an Orphan Girl: A Soul-stirring Drama of Human Trials and Tribulations in Four Acts, New York, N.Y.: Dramatists Play Service, →OCLC, page 59
    Antonyms:
    arrive, come, enter, ingress
    1. (intransitive) To leave a scene or depart from a stage.
      • Desdemona exits stage left.
  2. (euphemistic, intransitive, often) To depart from life; to die.
    Synonyms:
    assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more, be with Jesus, be with the Lord, bite the big one, bite the biscuit
  3. (ambitransitive) To end or terminate (a program, subroutine, etc.)
    • Common Lisp provides a facility for exiting from a complex process in a non-local, dynamically scoped manner.1990, Guy L[ewis] Steele Jr. et al., “Control Structure”, in Common Lisp: The Language, 2nd edition, [Bedford, Mass.]: Digital Press, →ISBN, section 7.11 (Dynamic Non-local Exits), page 187
    • Every ZAF program needs to call a routine like this to exit the application. Just put it in your library and be done with it.1995, Roland Hughes, “Tricks You Should Already Have”, in Zinc It!: Interfacing Third Party Libraries with Crossplatform GUI’s, Evanston, Ill.: John Gordon Burke Publisher, →ISBN, section 3.5...
  4. (also, figuratively, transitive) To depart from or leave (a place or situation).
    • At approximately 10:35 a.m. said John Doe exited 110 East 36th Street without the brown paper bag. [...] On four occasions, said John Doe was observed exiting 110 East 36th Street and observed on two occasions entering apartment actually marked 71, but meaning apartment 710 on seventh floor of 150...1970 January 6, Morris Edward Lasker, United States District Judge, United States of America -v- James Armiento and Edward Jernek, Defendants [Opinion of the Court] (no. 36451), [New York, N.Y.]...
    • More than one-quarter (26 per cent) poor in 1991 exited poverty in 1992.1995 August, Poverty’s Revolving Door (Bureau of the Census Statistical Brief; SB/95-20), [Washington, D.C.]: Bureau of the Census, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of...
    Antonyms:
    enter
    1. (also, figuratively, specifically, transitive) To alight or disembark from a vehicle.
      • When Walsh exited the "Q" train, he walked three blocks underground on the concourse which took him into the World Trade Center, the twin towers which highlight the skyline of lower Manhattan.1994, William F. Roemer, Jr., Mob Power Plays: The Mob Attempts Control of Congress, Casinos and Baseball: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: S.P.I. Books, Shapolsky Publishers, →ISBN, page 159
  5. (intransitive) To give up the lead.
    • West now plays a low club to the J and Q. North exits in a trump.2014, D. K. Acharya, Standard Methods of Contract Bridge Complete, page 173

Verb (2)

exit

  1. (also, figuratively, intransitive) Used as a stage direction for an actor: to leave the scene or stage.
    • I take no monie, but good vvordes, raile not if I tell true, if I doe not reuenge. Farevvell. Exit Bom[bie].c. 1590 (date written), [John Lyly], Mother Bombie. […], London: […] Thomas Scarlet for Cuthbert Burby, published 1594, →OCLC, Act III, scene iv, signature [E], verso
    • A ſauage clamor? / Well may I get a-boord: This is the Chace, / I am gone for euer. / Exit purſued by a Beare.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    Synonyms:
    exeat

Noun (2) capitalized: EXIT

EXIT

  1. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of ex utero intrapartum treatment, a specialized surgical procedure used to deliver babies who have airway compression.

exit meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

exit in Hindi

action of going out or going away, or leaving — see also departure
प्रस्थान prasthān, निकासी nikāsī
way out
निकासी nikāsī, निर्गम nirgam
passage or opening through which one can go from inside a place to the outside
निकास nikās, निर्गम nirgam
minor road used to leave a major road
निकास nikās

exit in Urdu

way out
نِکاس nikās

exit in Bengali

way out
বাহির bahir

exit in Telugu

నిష్క్రమించడానికి, నిష్క్రమించుటకు, నిష్క్రమించటానికి
More languagesFewer languages
exit in Sanskrit
बहिर्गमन bahirgamana
exit in Tagalog
labasan
exit in Arabic
خُرُوج ḵurūj, مَخْرَج maḵraj, خَرَجَ ḵaraja
exit in Malay
jalan keluar, keluar, terbit, tubik
exit in Indonesian
jalan keluar
exit in Persian
خارج شدن xârej šodan, ترک کردن
exit in Thai
ทางออก taang-ɔ̀ɔk, ออก ɔ̀ɔk
exit in Vietnamese
lối ra
exit in Myanmar
ထွက်ပေါက် htwakpauk

Examples of exit in a sentence

  • She stood at the exit of the house looking back and waving at those inside.
  • [...] I have purſued you like your ſhadow; I have beſieg'd your door for a glimpſe of your exit and entrance, like a diſtreſſed creditor, who has no arms againſt privilege but perſeverance.1762 (first performance), Samuel Foote, The Lyar. A Comedy in Three Acts. […], London: Printed for G. Kearsly, […], published 1764, →OCLC...
  • [F]or the audience, a direct exit in front of the proscenium wall is preferable to one through it.1877 February 17, “The Proposed Act for the Security of Theatres in New York”, in The American Architect and Building News, volume II...
  • If both parties involved are struggling, both parties must be taken out the nearest exits, but not the same exit.2004, Robert A. McManus, Sean M. O’Toole, “Everyday Security Topics, Procedures, and Operations”, in Kathryn M. Gainey, editor, The...
  • Follow I-66 to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge (US Route 50). take the Constitution Ave exit off of the bridge.2002, “Driving Instructions”, in African Studies Association 45th Annual Meeting: Preliminary Program, [Camden, N.J.]: [African Studies...

All 40 example sentences with exit

Synonyms of exit

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

1 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of exit

Forms of exit

Noun
pluralexits
Verb
third-person singular presentexits
present participleexiting
past participleexited
pastexited

Past tense of exit: exited

Plural of exit: exits

Origin of exit

From Middle English exit, from Latin exitus (“departure, going out; way by which one may go out, egress; (figuratively) conclusion, termination; (figuratively) death; income, revenue”), from exeō (“to depart, exit; to avoid, evade; (figuratively) to escape; of time: to expire, run out”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Exeō is derived from ex- (prefix meaning ‘out, away’) + eō (“to go”) (ultimately from ). The English word is cognate with Italian esito, Portuguese êxito, Spanish éxito. Doublet of ejido and exitus. The verb is derived from the noun.

Borrowed from Latin exit, the third-person singular present active indicative of exeō (“to depart, exit; to avoid, evade; (figuratively) to escape; of time: to expire, run out”); see further at etymology 1 above.

Chosen for relation to exit.

Words formed from exit

Phrases with exit

10 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with exit

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about exit

What does exit mean?
Exit means an act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure.
What is exit in Hindi?
Exit in Hindi is प्रस्थान (prasthān), निकासी (nikāsī), निर्गम (nirgam). See Exit meaning in Hindi.
How do you use exit in a sentence?
She stood at the exit of the house looking back and waving at those inside.
What part of speech is exit?
Exit can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce exit?
Exit is pronounced /ˈɛksɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of exit?
The plural of exit is exits.

Words near exit in the dictionary

  1. existing
  2. existless
  3. existlessness
  4. exists
  5. exisulind
  6. exit
  7. exit bag
  8. exit bags
  9. exit ban
  10. exit bans
  11. exit clause

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: exit (page history and authors); EXIT (page history and authors); exit (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-exit.ogg, En-us-exit.ogg.

Cite this entry: “exit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/exit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.