come out

verb

came out; come out; coming out; comes out

intransitive verb

1

a

: to come into public view : make a public appearance

a new magazine has come out

b

: to become evident

his pride came out in his refusal to accept help

2

: to declare oneself especially in public utterance

came out in favor of the proposal

3

: to turn out in an outcome : end up

everything came out all right

4

: to make a debut

5

a

: to openly declare one's sexual orientation or gender identity

came out as bisexual

decided to come out to her family

b

: to openly declare something about oneself previously kept hidden

—often used with as

blew his cover and came out as a CIA agent

—William Prochnau

coming-out

ˌkə-miŋ-ˈau̇t 

noun

Phrases

come out with

1

: to give expression to

came out with a new proposal

2

: publish

Synonyms

• fall out
• pan out
• prove
• shake out
• turn out

Examples of come out in a Sentence

in the end everything came out OK

come out, come out wherever you are!

Recent Examples on the Web

Koetter agreed to come out of retirement (again) for one season. —Justin Williams, The Athletic, 30 Dec. 2024

When the spring bounces up and down, there’s a little Flav that comes out at the top that says, Yeah, boy. —Jason Newman, Rolling Stone, 30 Dec. 2024

The Titans had a classic opportunity 12 months ago to come out and frame the move away from Mike Vrabel as a rebuild. —Nick Suss, The Tennessean, 30 Dec. 2024

Once the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes throughout and pour the icing over while the cake is warm. —Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

come out

verb

1

: to come into public view

2

: to turn out to be

everything came out all right