Word.ws English Dictionary

out on one's feet

out on one's feet adjective: standing erect but not consciously aware of one's surroundings, or only minimally aware, and having little or no ability to control one's bodily actions, as a result of physical injury or exhaustion.

Adjective

out on one's feet

  1. (idiomatic) Standing erect but not consciously aware of one's surroundings, or only minimally aware, and having little or no ability to control one's bodily actions, as a result of physical injury or exhaustion.
    • Such schedules frequently leave them ragged and unrested. "How good is it for a patient to be treated by an intern who is almost out on his feet?" she asked.1998 April 30, Bob Sculley, “Physician Deplores Medical Indifference To America's”, in Ludington Daily News, retrieved 18 May 2013
    • But several of his teammates later said Toomer was jabbering nonsensically in the huddle and seemed out on his feet.2000 November 16, Bill Pennington, “Pro Football: Toomer's Concussion Now a Scary Memory”, in New York Times, retrieved 18 May 2013
  2. (broadly, idiomatic) Stupefied; dazed; nonfunctional.
    • "Well sir, that girl was simply out on her feet. It wasn't from drinking, either. I'm something of a hypnotist myself and I quickly realized that she was in a real hypnotic trance, brought on by Puffy's staring into her eyes."1945 April 9, “Puffy, The Hypnotizing Cat, Named Honorary Feline Society President”, in St. Petersburg Times, retrieved 10 May 2013, page 5
    • According to Savitt there are many such small concerns who are out on their feet, and still in a state of shock.1955 August 31, “Merchants Form Plan To Aid Small Business: Will help those hit by floods”, in The Hartford Courant, retrieved 18 May 2013, page 1

Synonyms of out on one's feet

Origin of out on one's feet

From the sport of boxing, referring to fighter who is too stunned to fight effectively, but who does not collapse to the canvas.

Questions about out on one's feet

What does out on one's feet mean?
Out on one's feet means standing erect but not consciously aware of one's surroundings, or only minimally aware, and having little or no ability to control one's bodily actions, as a result of physical injury or exhaustion.
What part of speech is out on one's feet?
Out on one's feet is an adjective.

Words near out on one's feet in the dictionary

  1. out of wind
  2. out of work
  3. out on
  4. out on a limb
  5. out on one's ear
  6. out on one's feet
  7. out on the tiles
  8. out one's mind
  9. out over one's skis
  10. Out Rawcliffe
  11. out sick

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: out on one's feet (page history and authors). 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-out on one's feet.ogg.

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