Word.ws English Dictionary

outside

Syllables: out·side/aʊtˈsaɪd/

More pronunciations (2)Fewer pronunciations

Ireland/ˈaʊt.sɑɪd/

outside noun: the part of something that faces out; the outer surface.

Noun

outside (plural outsides)

  1. The part of something that faces out; the outer surface.
    • He's repainting the outside of his house.
    • Silenes of old swere little boxes, like those we now may see in the shops of apothecaries, painted on the outside with wanton toyish figures, as harpies, satyrs, bridled geese, horned hares, saddled ducks, flying goats, thiller harts, and other such-like counterfeited pictures at discretion, ...1653, François Rabelais, “The Author's Prologue to the First Book”, in Thomas Urquhart, transl., Gargantua
  2. The external appearance of someone or something.
    • Her outside was stern, but inside was a heart of gold.
  3. The space beyond some limit or boundary.
    • Viewed from the outside, the building seemed unremarkable.
    • I in great Transport threw open the Door of my Chamber, and found the greatest Part of the Family standing on the Outside in a very great Consternation1714 August 16 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “THURSDAY, August 6, 1714”, in The Spectator, number 577; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume...
  4. The furthest limit, as to number, quantity, extent, etc.
    • It may last a week at the outside.
  5. The part of a road towards the central division: towards the right if one drives on the left, or towards the left if one drives on the right.
    • On a motorway, you should always overtake other vehicles on the outside.
  6. The side of a curved road, racetrack etc. that has the longer arc length; the side of a racetrack furthest from the interior of the course or some other point of reference.
    • On the final bend, the second-place car tried to go around the outside of the leader but spun off into the barrier.
  7. The outer part of the sea, away from the peak of a wave.
    • When a wave mounds on the outside and takes its shape, a surfer quickly paddles to the peak, positions himself in its evolving momentum, swings his board around, aligns with the peak, and thrusts himself into its cascading shape.2011, Rick Hansen, Leadership and The Art of Surfing, page xi
  8. (UK, colloquial, dated) A passenger riding on the outside of a coach or carriage.
    • The outsides did as outsides always do. They were very cheerful and talkative at the beginning of every stage, and very dismal and sleepy in the middle[…]1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC

Adjective

outside (comparative more outside, superlative most outside)

  1. Of or pertaining to the outer surface, limit or boundary.
    • The outside surface looks good.
    • Household drudgery, wood-cutting, milking, and gardening soon roughen the hands and dim the outside polish.1901, Miles Franklin, “Disjointed Sketches and Grumbles”, in My Brilliant Career, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 25
  2. Of, pertaining to or originating from beyond the outer surface, limit or boundary.
    • 1938 (believed written c.1933), H. P. Lovecraft, The Book,
      Dogs had a fear of me, for they felt the outside shadow which never left my side.
    • It is the witness to your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition.1976, Helen Schucman, A Course in Miracles
  3. Away from the interior or center of something.
    • I don't want to take up your time with outside details so I will only say that about two years ago I had an opportunity of acquiring a share in a very promising claim—gold, you understand, both reef and alluvial.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados
    • As the centripetal force is an inverse function of the radius of the curve, it follows that the runner in the outside lane will be less affected than the runner in the inside lane.2003, Timothy Noakes, Lore of Running, Human Kinetics, →ISBN, page 731
  4. Originating from, arranged by, or being someone outside an organization, group, etc.
    • The Board did not trust outside information about their rivals.
    • Positions in organizations are being vacated continually through death and retirement, promotion and demotion. Replacements may be drawn from the outside ("an outside man") or from within the organization.1968, Barney G. Glaser, Organizational Careers, Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, page 23
  5. Extending or going beyond the borders or scope of an organization, group, etc.
    • Although a marriage to "one of ours" was encouraged, an outside marriage was not condemned if it would be to a believer of a similar faith. Some of the immigrants' children married Australians and joined Australian Churches.2004, Viktor Zander, Identity and Marginality among New Australians: Religion and Ethnicity in Victoria's Slavic Baptist Community, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 88
  6. Away (far) from the batter as it crosses home plate.
    • The first pitch is ... just a bit outside.
  7. Reaching the extreme or farthest limit, as to extent, quantity, etc; maximum.
    • an outside estimate
  8. (UK) Positioned towards the central division of a road: towards the right-hand side if one drives on the left, or left-hand side if one drives on the right.
    • the outside lane of the motorway
  9. (US) Positioned towards the shoulder of a road: towards the left-hand side if one drives on the left, or right-hand side if one drives on the right.
    • the outside lane of the highway
  10. Not legally married to or related to (e.g. not born in wedlock to), and/or not residing with, a specified other person (parent, child, or partner); (of a marriage, relationship, etc) existing between two such people. (Compare out of wedlock, nonresidential.)
    • Isaac Nathan's Christian wife served as godmother to his outside son, born after their Christian marriage. She allowed the boy, but not his mother, to live with her, her husband, and their two children.1994, Caroline H. Bledsoe, Gilles Pison, Nuptiality in Sub-Saharan Africa: contemporary anthropological and demographic perspectives, Oxford University Press, USA
    • An 'outside wife' has limited social recognition and status because her husband typically refuses to declare her publicly as his wife. She also has much less social and politico-jural recognition than an 'inside wife' [...]2008, Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen, Polygamy: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 158
    Antonyms:
    inside

Adverb

outside (comparative more outside, superlative most outside)

  1. To or in the outdoors or outside; to or in an area that is beyond the scope, limits, or borders of a given place.
    • I am going outside.
    • Residents of the city rarely ventured outside.
    1. (colloquial) Not in prison.
      • It is the prison that supports the image of the criminal […] he's lost when he's outside.1964, Merfyn Turner, A Pretty Sort of Prison, page 15
    2. Beyond the breaking waves.
      • Taking off outside in the green.1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer
  2. Outdoors.
    • I slept outside last night.
    • Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

Preposition

outside

  1. On the outside of, not inside (something, such as a building).
    • In territory outside her European frontiers as fixed by the present Treaty, Germany renounces all rights, titles and privileges whatever in or over territory which belonged to her or to her allies, and all rights, titles and privileges whatever their origin which she held as against the Allied and...1919 June 28, the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany, Treaty of Versailles, Part IV—German Rights and Interests outside Germany
    • There is jurisdiction over an offense under section 601 committed outside the United States if the individual committing the offense is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (as defined in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and...1982, 97th Congress of the United States, Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982
    Synonyms:
    without
  2. Beyond the scope, limits, or borders of.
    • tourists from outside the country
  3. Near, but not in.
    • Up the hill Richmond town was burning briskly; outside the town of Richmond there was no trace of the Black Smoke.1898, H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds
    • Jane Green […] lives outside New York City with her husband and children.2002, Jane Green, Bookends, 2003 trade paperback edition, outside back cover
  4. (usually) Except, apart from.
    • Outside of winning the lottery, the only way to succeed is through many years of hard work.

Verb

outside (third-person singular simple present outsides, present participle outsiding, simple past and past participle outsided)

  1. (transitive) To ostracize or exclude.
    • Alison affirms that the kingdom of God does not rely on the sort of “outsiding” that most people find necessary to affirm identity. Keenan, echoing this claim, writes, “While the rest of humanity finds its identity in excluding, Jesus works for a sense of inclusiveness that defines him and...2010, Julie Hanlon Rubio, Family Ethics: Practices for Christians, page 153
    • While the queer subject is outsided by the norm of reproductive heterosexuality, it feels its material effects and affects, even embodies this outsided-ness; […]2018, Shraddha Chatterjee, Queer Politics in India: Towards Sexual Subaltern Subjects

Proper noun capitalized: Outside

Outside

  1. (US, slang, Alaska) The United States excluding Alaska, (especially) the contiguous 48 states south of Canada.
    • She's going Outside for Christmas.
    • 'When did you leave the Outside?' asked a blue-eyed, blonde, shaggy man. (The Outside means anywhere but Alaska—a man who has been long in the country falls into the idea of considering himself in a kind of a prison, and refers to the rest of the world as lying beyond the door of this.)1900, Josiah Edward Spurr, Through The Yukon Gold Diggings, page 156

outside meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

outside in Hindi

in or to the outside
बाहर bāhar
outdoors
बाहर bāhar

outside in Tamil

வெளிப்புறம், வெளியே

outside in Marathi

outside
बाहेर bāher

outside in Urdu

outer surface
باہر bāhir
in or to the outside
باہر bāhar
outdoors
باہر bāhar
More languagesFewer languages
outside in Bengali
বাইরে baire
outside in Telugu
బయట bayaṭa
outside in Malayalam
വെളി veḷi, പുറം puṟaṁ
outside in Kannada
ಹೊರಗೆ horage
outside in Punjabi
باہِر bāhir
outside in Gujarati
બહાર bahār, બદર badar
outside in Sanskrit
आरे āré
outside in Assamese
বাহিৰ bahir, বাহিৰত bahirot
outside in Nepali
बाहिर bāhira
outside in Tagalog
labas
outside in Arabic
خَارِج ḵārij, بره barra
outside in Malay
luar
outside in Persian
بیرون birun, خارج xârej
outside in Thai
ผิวนอก pĭw nôk, ภายนอก paai nôk, นอก nɔ̂ɔk
outside in Myanmar
အပြင် a.prang

Examples of outside in a sentence

  • The outside of the building gives no valuable clew.1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “The Common Herd”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles...
  • The number of persons which the cab is licensed to carry must be painted at the back on the outside.1911, Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, Cab:
  • Have you seen my wife, Mr Jones?,Do you know what it's like on the outside?1967, The Bee Gees, New York Mining Disaster 1941:
  • Nor did they consult with outside persons in religious studies, sociology of religion, or psychology of religion.1993 September 3, Nancy Tatom Ammerman, Report to the Justice and Treasury Departments regarding law enforcement interaction with the...

All 40 example sentences with outside

Synonyms of outside

Antonyms

Forms of outside

Noun
pluraloutsides
alternative form (obsolete)owtside
Adjective
comparativemore outside
superlativemost outside
Adverb
comparativemore outside
superlativemost outside
Verb
third-person singular presentoutsides
present participleoutsiding
past participleoutsided
pastoutsided

Plural of outside: outsides

Origin of outside

From out + side.

Words formed from outside

Phrases with outside

18 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with outside

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about outside

What does outside mean?
Outside means the part of something that faces out; the outer surface.
What is outside in Hindi?
Outside in Hindi is बाहर (bāhar). See Outside meaning in Hindi.
How do you use outside in a sentence?
The outside of the building gives no valuable clew.
What part of speech is outside?
Outside can be a noun, an adjective, an adverb or a preposition.
How do you pronounce outside?
Outside is pronounced /aʊtˈsaɪd/.
What is the plural of outside?
The plural of outside is outsides.

Words near outside in the dictionary

  1. outshrilling
  2. outshrills
  3. outshut
  4. outshuts
  5. outshutting
  6. outside
  7. outside art
  8. outside back
  9. outside backs
  10. outside car
  11. outside cars

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: outside (page history and authors); Outside (page history and authors); outside (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); बाहेर (Marathi) (page history and authors); പുറം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಹೊರಗೆ (Kannada) (page history and authors); બદર (Gujarati) (page history and authors); आरे (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); বাহিৰ (Assamese) (page history and authors); बाहिर (Nepali) (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-outside.wav, en-us-outside.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Nattes à chat-outside.wav.

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