come out

come out
   to announce your availability as a sexual partner
   Until the 1950s this was social jargon for the parade of marriageable girls of wealthy parents, in London especially, before supposedly eligible bachelors; see also OUT I:
    Girls had to come out, I knew. (N. Mitford, 1949)
   The phrase is now used specifically of homosexuals who make public their sexual preference for the first time, being a shortened form of come out of the closet:
    Lord Mountbatten was definitely gay himself though he never had to courage to come out of the closet. (Private Eye, May 1981)
    The Bishops' group also says that a homosexual who has 'come out' should offer his resignation to his bishop. (Daily Telegraph, October 1979 — note the quotation marks in an early use)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • come out — {v.} 1. {Of a girl:} To be formally introduced to polite society at about age eighteen, usually at a party; begin to go to big parties, * /In society, girls come out when they reach the age of about eighteen, and usually it is at a big party in… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • come out — {v.} 1. {Of a girl:} To be formally introduced to polite society at about age eighteen, usually at a party; begin to go to big parties, * /In society, girls come out when they reach the age of about eighteen, and usually it is at a big party in… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Come Out — Marche pour les droits civiques aux États Unis en 1963 Genre musique contemporaine …   Wikipédia en Français

  • come out in — ˌcome ˈout in [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they come out in he/she/it comes out in present participle coming out in past tense …   Useful english dictionary

  • Come out — may refer to: Come Out, a music piece by Steve Reich Coming out, disclosing one s homosexuality or bisexuality. Come Out , a song by Camper van Beethoven from New Roman Times Come Out Youth Arts Festival, held annually in Adelaide, South… …   Wikipedia

  • Come Out — may refer to: Come Out (Reich), a music piece by Steve Reich Coming out, disclosing one s homosexuality or bisexuality. Come Out , a song by Camper van Beethoven from New Roman Times Come Out Youth Arts Festival, held annually in Adelaide, South… …   Wikipedia

  • come out — [v1] make public appear, be announced, be brought out, be disclosed, be divulged, be exposed, be issued, be made known, be promulgated, be published, be released, be reported, be revealed, break*, debut, get out, leak*, out, transpire; concept 60 …   New thesaurus

  • come-out — come out; come out·er; …   English syllables

  • come out — ► come out 1) (of a fact) become known. 2) declare oneself as being for or against something. 3) acquit oneself or fare in a specified way. 4) (of a photograph) be produced satisfactorily or in a specified way. 5) (of the result of a calculation… …   English terms dictionary

  • come-out|er — «KUHM OW tuhr», noun. U.S. a person who separates himself from an established organization; a social or political reformer: »If our society is to survive it must provide an atmosphere in which just such misfits and eccentrics and come outers can… …   Useful english dictionary

  • come out — index circulate, declare, emerge, issue (send forth) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

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