out

out

1. In current use out, unlike in, is primarily an adverb (We went out), and to form a preposition it normally needs the addition of of (We went out of the house). Use of out as a direct preposition without of is non-standard in BrE, although it is found in AmE and some other varieties:

• Now he looked past Bacon, out the bay window behind him —T. Wolfe, AmE 1987

• I drove out the gates and left them open behind me, swinging in the wind —S. Koea, NewZE 1994.

2. As a verb, out goes back to Old English in various meanings, ‘to drive out or expel’, ‘to disable’, ‘(of news or information) to become known’, ‘to disclose or speak out’, and others. In the 1990s, the last meaning developed a new application in the context of the gay rights movement, namely ‘to reveal the homosexuality of (a prominent or famous person)’: She ‘outs’ dozens as bi [= bisexual] —

• instead of exclusively straight or gay —The Face, 1996.

The process is called outing, and a person who does it is sometimes known as an outer or outist. These uses are likely to develop meanings in other contexts to do with exposing the private circumstances of individuals when this suits those with a particular cause to promote.