• Outside

    Pronunciation

    • (adjective) enPR: outʹsÄ«d, IPA: /ˈaÊŠtsaɪd/
    • (adverb, noun, preposition) enPR: out-sÄ«dʹ, IPA: /aÊŠtˈsaɪd/
    • Rhymes: -aɪd

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    out + side

    Full definition of outside

    Noun

    outside

    (plural outsides)
    1. The part of something that faces out; the outer surface.
      • 1653, Thomas Urquhart (translator), François Rabelais, , "The Author's Prologue to the First Book"Silenes of old were 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, ...
      • 1890, Jacob Riis, ,The outside of the building gives no valuable clew.
      • 1911, , article in Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition,The number of persons which the cab is licensed to carry must be painted at the back on the outside.
    2. The external appearance of something.
    3. The space beyond some limit or boundary.
    4. The furthest limit, as to number, quantity, extent, etc.It may last a week at the outside.
    5. (dated, UK, colloquial) A passenger riding on the outside of a coach or carriage.
      • unknown date Charles Dickens, The Pickwick PapersThe 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...

    Usage notes

    Rarely used with an.

    Adjective

    outside

    1. Of or pertaining to the outer surface, limit or boundary.The outside surface looks good.
      • 1901, Miles Franklin, ,Household drudgery, woodcutting, milking, and gardening soon roughen the hands and dim the outside polish.
      • 1921, Ernest Leopold Ahrons, ,The tyres, which come from the steel manufacturers, are rolled without weld. They are bored inside to an internal diameter slightly less than the outside diameter of the wheel centre, on to which they have to be shrunk, the allowance being about 1/1000 of the diameter of the wheel centre.
    2. Of, pertaining to or originating from beyond the outer surface, limit or boundary.
      • 1938 (believed written c.1933), H. P. Lovecraft, ,Dogs had a fear of me, for they felt the outside shadow which never left my side.
      • 1976, Helen Schucman, ,It is the witness to your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition.
      • 1993 September 3, Nancy Ammerman, ,Nor did they consult with outside persons in religious studies, sociology of religion, or psychology of religion.
    3. (baseball, of a pitch) Away (far) from the batter as it crosses home plate.The first pitch is ... just a bit outside.
    4. Reaching the extreme or farthest limit, as to extent, quantity, etc.an outside estimate

    Adverb

    outside

    1. On or towards the outside.
      • Sinclair Jungle|28Jurgis waited outside and walked home with Marija.
    2. Outdoors.
      • 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 14, 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.
    3. I slept outside last night.

    Preposition

    1. On the outside of.
      • 1890, Jacob Riis, ,It never happens outside of the story-books that a baby so deserted finds home and friends at once.
      • 1891, Thomas Hardy, ,"Don't think of what's past!" said she. "I am not going to think outside of now. Why should we! Who knows what to-morrow has in store?"
      • 1919 June 28, the Allied and Associated Powers and , , Part IV—German Rights and Interests outside Germany,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 Associated Powers.
      • 1982, 97th United States Congress, ,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 Nationality Act).
      • Schuster Hepaticae V|viiHepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.
    2. Near, but not in.
      • 1898, H. G. Wells, ,Up the hill Richmond town was burning briskly; outside the town of Richmond there was no trace of the Black Smoke.
      • 2002, Jane Green (author), Bookends, 2003 trade paperback edition, ISBN 0767907817, outside back cover:Jane Green ... lives outside New York City with her husband and children.
      • 2010 December, Patricia Corrigan, "Beyond Congregations", OY! (magazine section), St. Louis Jewish Light, volume 63, number 50, page 24:Kastner lives in University City with his wife, Leslie Cohen, who works for the Jewish Federation, and their 17-month-old old son. Kastner grew up outside Cleveland.
    3. (usually with “of”) Except, apart from.Outside of winning the lottery, the only way to succeed is through many years of hard work.

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