Word.ws English Dictionary

spell out

spell out verb: to form (a word) from letters; say the letters in a word.

Verb

spell out (third-person singular simple present spells out, present participle spelling out, simple past and past participle spelled out or (chiefly UK) spelt out)

  1. (transitive) To form (a word) from letters; say the letters in a word.
    • He used Scrabble tiles to spell out “I LOVE YOU”.
  2. (transitive, when writing or editing) To replace an abbreviation with its unabbreviated form, such an acronym with its expansion.
    • To avoid crypticness for nonexpert readers, she spelled out the phrase, so that "tips about PrEP in the context of OHS for HCPs" became "tips about preexposure prophylaxis in the context of occupational health and safety for health care professionals".
    • Spell out and in most cases. Use ampersands only when it is an official part of a name (e.g., Lewis & Clark College), as a design element, or when it is required to save space.2012, “Punctuation and Symbols”, in Portland State University: University Communications
  3. (transitive) To explain in clear and simple terms; to be explicit.
    • Here is a brochure that spells out the benefits.
    • Dany has never had a full vision for what happens once she obtains the Iron Throne, but that’s what her advisors, including Tyrion and Varys, are for. And the show has never exactly spelled out Jon’s platform beyond “stay alive,” so he’d also require a small council.2019 May 5, Danette Chavez, “Campaigns are Waged On and Off the Game Of Thrones Battlefield (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 28 Jan 2021

Forms of spell out

third-person singular presentspells out
present participlespelling out
past participlespelled out
pastspelled out
past participle UKspelt out
past UKspelt out

Words formed from spell out

Questions about spell out

What does spell out mean?
Spell out means to form (a word) from letters; say the letters in a word.
What part of speech is spell out?
Spell out is a verb.
What is the past tense of spell out?
The past tense of spell out is spelled out.

Words near spell out in the dictionary

  1. spell it out
  2. spell of weather
  3. spell off
  4. spell offs
  5. spell one's name
  6. spell out
  7. spell someone's name
  8. spell things out
  9. spell work
  10. spell-bound
  11. spell-casting

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spell out (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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Cite this entry: “spell out.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spell_out. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.