Word.ws English Dictionary

taking the easy way out

taking the easy way out is the present participle and gerund of take the easy way out.

Meaning of take the easy way out

Verb

take the easy way out (third-person singular simple present takes the easy way out, present participle taking the easy way out, simple past took the easy way out, past participle taken the easy way out)

  1. To cut corners; to follow the path of least resistance; to take shortcuts to avoid pain or having to struggle to achieve a desired result; to end or avoid a difficult situation in an easy or simple way that is not the best or most sensible or honorable solution.
    • I wish I was a tradesman / Learnin' from some beat down old layman / […] Wanna sweat like hell, throw a hammer down / And know the old feelin' of a five o'clock smile / And know I didn't take no easy way out2023, Bryan Zachary Lane, “Tradesman”, in Bryan Zach, performed by Bryan Zach, Warner Records, →OCLC

Questions about taking the easy way out

What is taking the easy way out the present participle and gerund of?
Taking the easy way out is the present participle and gerund of take the easy way out.

Words near taking the easy way out in the dictionary

  1. taking the chill off
  2. taking the Chiltern Hundreds
  3. taking the count
  4. taking the coward's way out
  5. taking the cure
  6. taking the easy way out
  7. taking the edge off
  8. taking the fall
  9. taking the fifth
  10. taking the front seat
  11. taking the game to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking the easy way out (page history and authors); take the easy way 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: “taking the easy way out.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taking_the_easy_way_out. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.