outside, n., adv., and prep.
(aʊtˈsaɪd, ˈaʊtsaɪd)
[f. out a., out- 3 + side n.; cf. inside.
As to the varying stress, see inside.]
A. n.
1. a. That side of anything which is without, or farther from the interior; the external surface.
| 1505 Charter relat. to St. George's Chapel, Windsor in Rel. Ant. II. 116 The fanes on the outsides of the quere, and the creasts, corses, beasts above on the outsides of Maister John Shornes Chappell. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxiii. 26 Clense fyrst that which is within the cuppe and the platter, that the outsyde maye also be clene [in v. 25 ‘vtter side’]. 1587 Golding De Mornay vi. 64 The spirit of the Lord houered vpon the outside of the deepe. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 121 On each foot he hath five fingers, 3 on the outside, and two on the inside. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 61 They have climbed six foot high upon the outside of a wall, come in at a window, down on the inside,..and away again. 1705 Addison Italy 13 The Duke of Doria's Palace has the best Outside of any in Genoa. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas i. v. ¶9 He..showed the goddess of my devotions the outside of the door. 1893 Bookman June 79/1 Years of service in the Library had made him familiar with the outsides of books, but very little with their contents. |
b. The outer part or parts of anything, as distinguished from the interior.
| 1598 Barret Theor. Warres 21 The most place of honour is the left and right outsides [of a line of soldiers]. 1655 E. Terry Voy. E. Ind. 282 They usually live in the skirts or out sides of great Cities, or Townes. 1799 tr. H. Meister's Lett. Eng. 11 note, This absurd custom of riding on the outside of a coach. |
c. Fencing. (See
inside n. 1 b,
quot. 1863.)
2. a. The outer surface considered as that which is seen and presented to observation; the external person as distinguished from the mind or spirit; outward aspect or appearance as opposed to inner nature.
| 1592 Davies Immort. Soul ii. xii. (1714) 30 Sense Outsides knows, the Soul thro' all things sees. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 104 O what a goodlie outside falsehood hath. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 33 ¶1 She is no other than Nature made her, a very beautiful Outside. 1793 Burke Let. to Windham Corr. 1844 IV. 201 Since I wrote last, the outside of affairs is a good deal mended. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede v, You'll never persuade me that I can't tell what men are by their outsides. |
† b. Outer garments; clothes.
Obs.| 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair ii. i, I have seen as fine outsides as either of yours, bring lousy linings to the brokers. a 1625 Fletcher Love's Cure iii. ii, My Lord has sent me outsides, But..the colours are too sad. |
† c. Something worn on the outside which conceals the real features; a mask, a visor; an effigy.
Obs.| a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 122, I speak not for those that are meer outsides and visors of Christianity. 1676 Hobbes Iliad viii. 210 Disgrace of Greece, meer outsides, where are now Your Brags? |
d. That which is merely external; outward form as opposed to substance; an externality.
| 1660 tr. Amyraldus' Treat. conc. Relig. iii. vi. 416 A Religion which seem'd to consist wholly in out-side. 1694 Penn Rise & Prog. Quakers i. 16 Christians degenerated a-pace into outsides, as Days and Meats, and divers other Ceremonies. 1742 Young Nt. Th. viii. 148 A region of outsides! a land of shadows! 1886 Pater Imag. Portraits iii. (1887) 113 A penurious young poet, who..would have grasped so eagerly..at the elegant outsides of life. |
3. a. The position or locality close to the outer side or surface of anything.
| 1503 Plumpton Lett. 180, I lay at outside ij dayes or I cold have it. 1535 Coverdale Ezek. xl. 5 There was a wall on the outsyde rounde aboute the house. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 301 [He] chapit him be the ost ane lyttill, and at ane outsyde watchit him. 1611 Bible Judg. vii. 19 So Gideon and the hundred men..came vnto the outside of the campe. a 1677 Lovers Quarrel xlviii. in Child Ballads (1886) iv. cix. B. 448/1 Will you walk with me to an out-side, Two or three words to talk with me? 1699 Bentley Phal. 186 An Altar..which is yet standing on the out-side of the Town. 1784 R. Bage Barham Downs II. 167 It waits my Lord's appearance on the outside the iron pales. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxxvi, Can I open the door from the outside, I wonder? |
b. In isolated regions of Northern Canada and Alaska: the world outside these regions,
esp. as an area of settlement and civilization.
| 1827 in Beaver (Winnipeg) (1927) Dec. 141 He was to bring in the last letters from outside which we could expect until next spring. 1898 Yukon Midnight Sun (Dawson, Yukon Territory) 11 June 5/2 Many of these are men who have just arrived from the outside. 1904 J. Lynch Three Yrs. Klondike 54 On September 22 the last boat left for the ‘outside’ viâ the Lakes and Skagway. 1941 G. de M. Poncins Kabloona 13 Only the Arctic existed for them; and everything that lay below the Mackenzie River, was to them the remote, the virtually non-existent ‘Outside’. 1968 R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 108 From there the survey party travelled with the horses, passing over the Wolverines in the first snow, headed for Fort St. James and ‘the outside’. 1972 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 5 Dec. 35/1 He believes the story of Old Crow is valuable because it also shows how little people in The Outside—the rest of Canada in Yukon language—understand of the situation inside the territory. |
c. Austral. The unsettled areas in the interior or bush.
| 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. vii. 95 Dick Dawson came in from outside, and he said things are shocking bad; all the frontage bare already, and the water drying up. 1949 Geogr. Mag. Feb. 371 Rural life offers you such terms as backblocks, outback and outside, meaning remote, inland country. 1959 Baker Drum 132 Outside, unsettled districts in the interior or bush. |
d. slang. The world out of prison; also the world out of the Army, civilian life.
| 1903 ‘J. Flynt’ Rise of R. Clowd ii. 80 A boy in a Reform School with a ‘plant’ on the ‘outside’ takes a high place among his companions. 1919 D. G. Rowse Doughboy Dope 9 A is the Army at that stage of your young life when you were on what the Army calls ‘the outside’. 1933 Amer. Speech VIII. iii. 26/2 ‘Whitey’, who escaped three times from solitary confinement clear to the outside, was an acknowledged eel. 1965 C. D. B. Bryan P. S. Wilkinson 369, I never asked..what you did on the outside. 1972 C. Drummond Death at Bar ii. 56 Kath hasn't been having it so good, what with a couple of worthless sons who haven't the sense to keep on the outside. |
e. In Surfing: see
quots.| 1963 Surfing Yearbk. 42/2 Outside, surfing area past the breaking surf. 1963 Pix 28 Sept. 62/3 Outside, the surfing area outside the breaking wave. |
4. The outmost limit; the fullest or highest degree or quantity. Chiefly in
phr. at the outside, at the utmost, farthest, longest, or most.
colloq.| 1707 Mortimer Husb. iv. v. 78 Two hundred Load upon an Acre, which they reckon the out-side of what is to be laid. 1852 Lit. Gaz. Jan. 70/2 In a few weeks, at the outside, we may expect to see [etc.]. 1863 F. A. Kemble Resid. Georgia 39 This woman is young, I suppose at the outside not thirty. 1885 Law Times Rep. LIII. 60/2 A red light..distant a quarter of a mile at the outside. |
5. Anything situated on or forming the outer side, edge, or border:
spec. (
pl.), the outermost sheets, more or less damaged, of a ream of paper.
| 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 9 Little Orchards, or few trees, being (in a manner) all out-sides, are so blasted and dangered. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 267/2 The half-quires..contain, generally, 10 sheets; if the paper, however, be of superior quality, only 8 sheets. In the paper-warehouses it is known as ‘outsides’, with no more than 10 sheets to the half-quire. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Outsides, the exterior sheets of a ream of printing or writing paper; spoiled sheets. |
6. a. Short for
outside passenger on a conveyance.
| 1789 J. Woodforde Diary 13 June (1927) III. 114 For the remaining part of our fare paid..for 1 outside 12/0. a 1800 in Norfolk Fair (1970) Nov. 31/7 This Coach from Norwich to London by Newmarket every Day Convey 8 Insides..and 6 Outsides in the most Pleasant And Agreeable Stile. 1804 in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. VIII. 324 With the outsides he keeps no measures, insisting upon five per cent. on all their baggage. 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 38 The outsides, and the horses, and the coachman, seemed reduced to a torpid quietness. 1842 Syd. Smith Let. Locking in on Railw. Wks. 1859 II. 322/2 When first mail coaches began to travel twelve miles an hour, the outsides..were never tied to the roof. 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 715/1 The ‘George’ at Grantham is still..one of the best inns in England, as it was when these two prudent ‘outsides’ left the Yorkshire coach and ‘turned in’ there. 1914 ‘I. Hay’ Lighter Side School Life vi. 152 He was called at half-past two..and by three o'clock was off as an ‘outside’ upon the Tally-Ho Coach. |
b. = outsider 2.
| 1898 [see behind n. 2 b]. 1899 Captain II. 186/1, I headed out to the right, [and] saw our outside get it. 1906 Field 13 Oct. 610/1 Their outsides showed so crude a conception of passing that [etc.]. 1927 Observer 21 Aug. 18/3 The team are young and play attractive football, with a clever set of outsides who combine well. 1963 Times 23 Feb. 3/1 Although their forwards were playing such a solid game the Westminster outsides were too slow to beat their opposite numbers. |
7. In
phr. outside in (usually with
turn): So that the outer side becomes the inner;
= inside out.
| 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 23 Apr., The Circus..looks like Vespasian's amphitheatre turned outside in. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan II. 166 Preaching..as if the great world were to be turned..inside out, or outside in. 1863 Kingsley Water Bab. i. 18 He did not know that a keeper is only a poacher turned outside in, and a poacher a keeper turned inside out. |
8. Short for
outside paddle-wheel on a river steamboat.
| 1876 ‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer 29 Come ahead on the stabboard! Stop her! Let your outside turn over slow. 1894 ― in Century Mag. May 19 Set her back on de outside... Come ahead on de inside. |
B. adj. 1. That is on, or belongs to, the outer side, surface, edge, or boundary.
outside callipers, a pair of callipers for measuring the outside diameter of a body;
outside edge (
Skating): see
edge n. 7 b;
outside finish, requisites for completing the exterior of a wooden building (Webster 1892);
outside (jaunting) car: see also
jaunting-car;
outside passenger, one who travels on the outside of a conveyance.
| 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 184 [The] out-side beauty [of the durian is] no way equall to the inside goodnesse and vertues. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 244 Outside and inside Lathing for Plastring. 1733 Tull Horse-hoeing Husb. xi. 129 The Outside Rows of Wheat, from which the Earth is Hoed off, before or in the Beginning of Winter. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. iv. 158 They found her wales and outside planks extremely defective. c 1810 W. Hickey Mem. (1960) 326 One of the stage⁓coaches, with a number of outside passengers..frightened our horse. 1815 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 69 A Sailor, who was an outside passenger. 1824 J. Johnson Typogr. II. 560 Twenty quires to the ream, of which the two outside quires are called corded or cassie. 1829 [see jaunting-car]. 1849 W. Allingham Diary 30 June (1907) 49 Our party took leave and mounted a back outside-car in Gloucester Street. 1849 Dickens Dav. Copp. (1850) v. 51 The story of my supposed appetite getting wind among the outside passengers, they were merry upon it. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. I. 249 The outside walls are built hollow, having an air-vent 3 inches wide. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Outside Muster⁓paper, a paper with the outer part blank, but the inner portion ruled and headed; supplied..to form the cover of ships' books. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 429/2 Inside and outside calipers. 1874 ‘G. Ramsay’ Thomas Grant i. 23 They drove up on an outside car to the quays. 1887 Spectator 25 June 866/1 On his arrival in Dublin, he was profoundly impressed by the Irish outside-car. |
2. a. Situated, or having its origin or operation, without; that resides without some place or area; that works out of the house, or out of a workshop or factory.
In some uses indistinguishable from sense 3.
| 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 260/1 Some engines have been recently introduced..in which an attempt is made to combine the advantages of inside and outside bearings. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. II. 38 Enough to have an outside perception of his degree and kind of merit. 1862 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 101 Mine [room] is quiet as the grave from outside noises. 1871 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Dec. 28 Outside-cylinder engines are those in which the cylinders are placed outside the smoke-box. 1900 Fabian News X. 28/1 ‘Outside’ work means work done entirely in the home by an ‘outside’ worker. a 1904 Mod. Engage an outside porter to wheel your luggage from one station to the other. A window affording no view of the outside world. a 1902 S. Butler Way of all Flesh (1903) lxxx. 366 Days before those in which he had begun to bruise himself against the great outside world. 1926 Galsworthy Silver Spoon i. iii. 22 Our trade-unionists despise the outside world. They've never seen it. 1947 E. F. Russell in Aldiss & Harrison Decade 1940s (1975) 168 He..looked out through the dome... The outside world slumbered. 1969 Times 9 Jan. 4/5 They [sc. the Hutterites]..live in almost complete isolation from their neighbours and the outside world. 1976 Listener 29 July 104/2 All of us [blacks] will want to see blacks on television. The outside world will be astonished at the talent we have. 1976 Norwich Mercury 19 Nov. 2 Mr Sims finished his comments with a reference to the outside world's contact with the school—the wide range of evening classes available, [etc.]. |
b. Austral. Situated without the line of settlement; situated in the bush.
| 1881 A. C. Grant Bush-Life in Queensld. I. xi. 162 The cattle-buyer, who had a large experience on the out-side country. 1885 Mrs. C. Praed Head-Station II. ix. 178 I'm to have charge of one of the outside sheep stations, at what seems to me a liberal salary. |
c. spec. of a water closet: situated outside the house, building, etc.
| 1939 M. Spring Rice Working-Class Wives iv. 73 Mrs. P. of Glasgow... Under the drawbacks of her house she says ‘Outside lavatory, (used by six families.) Public house at close which is objectionable [etc.].’ 1943 Our Towns (Women's Group on Public Welfare) iii. 88 The outside closets are generally much less well kept than the inside ones... The majority of houses have outside W.C.'s only. 1959 B. J. Farmer Murder Next Year ii. 7 The keys of the house had been left in the outside w.c. 1960 P. Hastings Sandals for my Feet i. i. 13 I'm tired of..the smell of damp and that filthy outside loo. 1974 P. Highsmith Ripley's Game ii. 11 The little brick structure, formerly an outside toilet, that served as a tool shed. |
3. a. Not included in or belonging to the place, establishment, institution, or society in question.
| 1881 Daily News 13 Sept. 5/1 Outside opinion has evidently had its influence on the City Fathers. 1884 Manch. Exam 14 May 5/5 The outside public appear disposed to take Mr. C—at his own valuation. 1886 in Pall Mall G. 7 Aug. 1/2 In matters relating to its exhibitions the Royal Academy stands on the same footing with regard to ‘outside’ artists, as the Society of British Artists, the Institutes, and other private societies holding open exhibitions. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 23 Apr. 6/1 More destructive to the business of ‘outside’ brokers than the action of the Stock Exchange in depriving them of the ‘tape’. |
b. In Northern Canada and Alaska: belonging to or obtained from another part of the world,
esp. from the settled or urbanized parts.
| 1896 C. Whitney On Snow-Shoes to Barren Grounds 40 Gairdner had annoyed me a great deal, and no doubt we had worried him not a little, breaking in upon the even and lethargic tenor of his monotonous life with our ‘out⁓side’ (as the great world is called by the denizens of this lone land) hustling ways. 1904 J. Lynch Three Yrs. Klondike 141 The leader is always a small ‘outside’ dog, usually of the Scotch collie breed. 1922 H. Footner Huntress 189 No bannock and sow-belly; no sir! Real raised outside bread and genuine cow-butter from the mission. 1958 P. Berton Klondike Fever ix. 307 Expense!.. Don't show your ignorance by using that cheap Outside word. 1977 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 8 Jan. 11/7 By special arrangement, one outside reporter will attend the dance. |
† 4. That has only an outside, or external appearance, without internal reality or substance; having empty show; superficial.
Obs.| 1643 Milton Divorce i. vi, Where love cannot be, there can be left of wedlock nothing, but the empty husk of an outside matrimony. 1679 M. Prance Addit. Narr. Pop. Plot 12 Used by the Professors of that out-side Religion. 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 135 The rest [books] on Out-side merit but presume, Or serve..to fill a room. |
5. Reaching the utmost limit; utmost, farthest, greatest, extreme.
| 1857 Trollope Barchester T. i. 2 The outside period during which breath could be supported within the body of the dying man. 1893 Mundella in Daily News 21 Feb. 3/3, I believe..I have given you the very outside prices that are being paid. |
6. Special collocations:
outside broadcast (see
quot. 1941);
outside broadcaster, (
a) one who makes or supervises an outside broadcast; (
b) an outside contributor to broadcasting;
outside broadcasting, the action of making an outside broadcast;
outside cabin, a cabin with a window or porthole on the side of the ship;
outside chance, a very unlikely chance;
outside forward, in association football and hockey, either of the two players, called the outside left or right (see below), of the forward line;
outside half = fly-half (
fly n.2 8);
outside interest, an interest not directly or necessarily connected with one's everyday life or interests;
outside job slang, a crime committed in a house, etc., by a person not connected or associated with the household or building concerned;
outside leaf, an outer leaf on a vegetable,
esp. cabbage;
outside left,
right, in association football and hockey, a player playing on the extreme left or right of the forward line;
outside line, a telephonic connection with an external exchange (
cf. line n.2 1 e);
outside man U.S. slang, one involved in any of various special roles in a confidence trick or robbery;
outside right (see
outside left above).
| 1927 B.B.C. Handbk. 1928 274 Outside broadcast, a broadcast item taking place at some point other than the studio. 1937 Discovery Nov. 331/1 Outside broadcasts of entertainments and public events can be readily arranged. 1941 B.B.C. Gloss. Broadcasting Terms 22 Outside broadcast (abbrev. O.B.), programme originating elsewhere than in the studio of a broadcasting organization; specifically broadcast description of an event in progress. 1953 News Chron. 2 June 3/5 It is a long way from 1937, when B.B.C television mounted its first outside broadcast from Hyde Park Corner on another Coronation day. 1972 I. Hamilton Thrill Machine xv. 63 He had brought the outside broadcast truck. |
| 1971 R. Lewis Error of Judgment i. 10 The technicians were already bundling out of the van, unloading..mysterious television equipment. Outside broadcasters. 1972 P. Black Biggest Aspidistra iii. ii. 164 Gilbert Harding..began on the entertainment side of radio as an outside broadcaster. |
| 1929 Melody Maker Apr. 363/2 Outside broadcasting is now not so much worth your while. 1937 Discovery Feb. 43/2 Much of the popularity of television will be linked up with the development of outside broadcasting. 1972 P. Black Biggest Aspidistra i. iii. 27 In the early days the bands played mostly in clubs and hotels, and so were part of outside broadcasting. |
| 1963 Outside cabin [see inside adj. a]. 1966 Guardian 29 Oct. 5/5 Two-berth outside cabins with private shower and w.c. 1971 ‘A. Garve’ Late Bill Smith i. 33 The Greek motor vessel Circe specially built as a luxury yacht for a limited number of privileged passengers; fully air-conditioned and stabilised; swimming pool and two bars; all outside cabins. |
| 1909 Daily Chron. 11 Jan. 4/6 The chance that the right marriage of poetry and music should come is an outside one. 1928 R. A. Knox Footsteps at Lock xiv. 135 By an outside chance you might find it lying about somewhere. 1930 A. P. Herbert Water Gipsies xx. 300 Here she was, risking everything..going all out for an outside chance. 1973 ‘D. Rutherford’ Kick Start viii. 169 He had an outside chance of lifting the moon stones from under Hadim's nose. |
| 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 517/1 (Hockey) Of the two outside forwards, he on the right has much the easier position in which to play. 1898 J. Goodall Assoc. Football 18, I would not tell the outside forward that it is his duty to centre the ball. 1935 Encycl. Sports 289/1 (Association Football) The throw-in is usually done by a half-back or by an outside forward. 1949 Rugby League Football (‘Know the Game’ Series) 8 Stand off half back or outside half. 1969 Programme (Llanelli v. Swansea 1 Apr.) 6 Gwyn Ashby. Maswr. Outside-half. 1971 Guardian 22 Feb. 16/5 Dick Cowman..gave a superb exhibition of outside-half play. |
| 1860 J. W. Palmer tr. Michelet's Love iv. vii. 235 It is the fault of the labor, the business, the outside interests and the cases with which I have been occupied. 1925 R. Hall Saturday Life xxix. 301 Could two deeply-loving and devoted people tolerate outside interests? 1974 R. Rendell Face of Trespass ii. 26 What you need..is some outside interest, something to take you out of yourself. |
| 1925 A. Christie Secret of Chimneys xii. 120 Either he was killed by someone in the house, and that someone unlatched the window after I had gone to make it look like an outside job..or else..I'm lying. 1928 Wodehouse Money for Nothing v. 104 It's got to look like an outside job. 1931 A. Christie Sittaford Mystery xi. 92 The police are quite certain that this is not what they call an ‘outside job’—I mean, it wasn't a burglar. The broken open window was faked. 1972 Outside job [see inside job s.v. inside a. e]. |
| 1739 E. Smith Compl. Housewife (ed. 9) 37 Take a well-shap'd Cabbage, peel off some of the out⁓side leaves. 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery iv. 57 Take a fine White-heart Cabbage..half boil it..take great Care not to break off any of the the outside Leaves. 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 560 Boiled cabbage... Pick off all the dead outside leaves. 1960 Good Housek. Cookery Bk. (rev. ed.) 217/1 Wash the chicory and remove the outside leaves. Ibid. 218/1 Leeks... Remove the coarse outside leaves. |
| 1900 Football Who's Who 134 Cassidy, Joseph, Manchester City (outside left). 1905 Gibson & Pickford Assoc. Football I. 161 Every one knows Alec Smith. He's the outside left of the Rangers. 1960 B. Liddell My Soccer Story xvi. 102 To get down to my final choice at outside-left, I vote for Peter McParland, an unorthodox type of winger with a wonderful turn of speed. 1965 Men's Hockey (‘Know the Game’ Series) (rev. ed.) 24/2 The outside right when about to pass to his left will find it more convenient to have the ball a little in front of his left foot. The outside left, however, must make a half turn to the right when passing right [etc.]. 1975 Liverpool Echo (Football ed.) 1 Feb. 3/1 There seems to have been some debate as to who was the Liverpool outside left before Billy Liddell. |
| 1944 Outside line [see line n.2 1 e]. 1962 E. S. Gardner Case of Blonde Bonanza (1967) x. 117 You can't get an outside line on these phones unless they connect you. 1972 D. Bloodworth Any Number can Play xx. 203 Ivansong seized the telephone (which..was automatically switched to an outside line). |
| 1926 J. Black You can't Win ix. 111 He..made his living serving as ‘target’ or outside man, for the yegg mobs that preyed on country banks. 1937 N.Y. Times 22 Dec. 22 Outside man, a spy under a cover, but not masquerading as an employe of a plant. 1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xiv. 151 She was acting as look out or ‘outside man’ for two expert safe breakers. 1947 Amer. Speech XXII. 169/1 Outside-man, the member of a shell-mob who locates promising suckers on the lot, steers them to the game, and assists in the play. |
| 1890 C. W. Alcock Football: Assoc. Game 48 The outside-right should not be more than eight or ten yards beyond him. 1974 Sunday Mail 14 Apr. 39/1 Both goals..were scored by the outside rights. |
C. adv. (Short for
on or
to the outside.)
1. a. Of position: On the outside of certain limits; externally; out in the open air; in the open sea beyond a harbour; not within some body, association, or community that may be in question.
| 1813 T. D. Broughton Lett. Mahratta Camp (1892) 55 They could..see every thing that took place outside. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 17 The body..posted themselves, fully armed, outside, under the portico. 1848 Dickens Dombey iii, It was as blank a house inside as outside. 1865 E. Lucas in Essays Ser. i. 309 While the world outside was being opposed, convinced [etc.]. 1866 Whittier Maids of Attitash 133 He better sees who stands outside Than they who in procession ride. 1872 Mark Twain Innoc. Abr. ii. 20 ‘Outside’..there was a tremendous sea on. |
b. In Northern Canada and Alaska: in the settled or urbanized areas outside these regions; abroad.
| 1898 F. Russell Explor. Far North 80 To ‘go in’, by the way, is to descend the Athabasca; to return to civilization is to ‘go outside’. 1923 F. Waldo Down Mackenzie through Gt. Lone Land 246, I had thought that life beyond the 65th parallel or so was life beyond the pale; but I was now to learn that the Arctic Circle is the inner circle, and the real outsider is—of course—the one who lives ‘Outside’. 1945 R. W. Service Ploughman of Moon 321 If I had been Outside it would have taken me five years to save a thousand dollars. 1955 Whitehorse (Yukon Territory) Star 24 Feb. 2/1 One of the outstanding characteristics of the Yukon is the general indifference to what is going on Outside. 1970 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 1 Nov. 13/3 Sam Otto spent 14 years in the Barren Lands and Northwest Territories, without going outside once. |
c. Austral. In the interior or bush.
rare.
| 1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xxxv. 317 But, be the ‘inside’ country never so tame and densely populated, there will always be a huge stretch of country ‘outside’ which cannot by any known means be closely settled. |
d. slang. Out of prison; in civilian life.
| 1919 W. Lang Sea-Lawyer's Log ix. 108 You got to 'ave some bloody religion in the Navy. Now, wot church did you go to outside? 1937 Research Stud. (Washington State Coll., Pullman) V. 19 A boy entering this institution [sc. a reformatory] learns more bad habits than he would ever think of learning out side. 1961 Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1210/1, I don't care what you were ‘outside’; you're in the Andrew now, so don't forget it, or you'll be in the rattle. |
e. In Surfing: see
quots.| 1962 T. Masters Surfing made Easy 65 Outside, out past the breaking waves, or at the furthest break. 1962 Austral. Women's Weekly 24 Oct. (Suppl.) 3/3 Outside or out the back, a long way out at sea, beyond the first line of breakers. |
2. Of motion or direction: To the exterior.
| 1889 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxiv, The men and women were ordered to come outside. Mod. Some of the party stepped outside to get a better view of the lightning. |
3. outside of,
prep. phr. (
cf. out of prep. phr.).
a. Without the walls, limits, or bounds of; not within; exterior to; also, To the exterior of, outward from.
outside of a horse (
colloq.) on horseback;
to get outside of (
slang), (
a) to swallow (so
to be outside of); (
b)
U.S. to master or understand (Farmer
Americanisms 1889).
| 1839–40 I. Taylor Anc. Chr. (1842) II. vii. 303 The sepulchre lay outside of the ancient city. 1869 Galaxy June 831 Don't let's get outside of more'n a bottle apiece, and that plain whiskey. 1878 O. W. Holmes Motley 69 His objects of interest outside of his special work. 1886 [see get v. 45]. 1889 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xv, He looked better outside of a horse than on his own legs. 1890 D. Arrowsmith in Big Game N. Amer. 521 My wife said she knew, from his [a racoon's] full stomach and his sneaking look, that he was outside of her pet turkey. 1915 J. Webster Dear Enemy 174 He likes to dine outside of the family vault. 1943 G. Greene Ministry of Fear i. ii. 29 Murderers..are very, very seldom..gentlemen. Outside of story-books. 1975 Nature 20 Mar. p. xx (Advt.), These books are..distributed outside of the U.S.A. and Canada by Academic Press. 1976 Gramophone Nov. 903/2, I was able to spend some time in their CD-4 four-channel disc cutting room—the most important such facility outside of Japan. |
b. colloq. (
orig. U.S.) Beyond the number or body of, with the exception of.
| 1859 A. L. Elwyn Gloss. Supposed Americanisms 82 Outside, this word is frequently used by writers in newspapers in a sense not known to the language. In a Ledger of a late date, there is a phrase..‘outside of the Secretary of War’, for ‘no one but that official’. 1889 Farmer Americanisms s.v., Outside of the tradesmen there was no one at the meeting. 1890 Century Mag. 127/2, I do not often see anybody outside of my servants, being not at all given to visiting. 1913 R. Fry Let. 5 Apr. (1972) II. 367 I'm very much interested by what you said about the need of some big belief outside of art. 1968 Listener 22 Aug. 234/1 The only power we have is to expel a union for corruption or for following a communist or a fascist policy. Outside of that the unions pretty much take care of their own business. 1972 New York 8 May 62/2 Outside of a slightly annoying tendency to call all female customers ‘Hon’, everything about Mr. Blume inspires confidence. |
D. prep. (Shortened from
outside of.)
(
Without-side the door is used,
c 1760, by Mrs. F. Sheridan
Sidney Biddulph II. 298, III. 221.)
1. a. Outside of; on the outer side of; external to.
outside the ropes (
slang), without knowledge of a matter; in the position of an outsider.
| 1826 J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) I. 140 As I came outside the Southampton coach to Oxford, I felt as if I could have rooted up St. Mary's spire. 1846 Penny Cycl. Suppl. II. 670/1 [Engines] in which the cylinders are fixed outside the framing. 1852 Gladstone Glean. (1879) IV. 151 All countries outside the Roman border. 1861 Lever One of Them lii, Until I came to understand the thing, I was always ‘outside the ropes’. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 180 The cause of the tides is to be found outside our earth. |
b. Beyond the limits of (any domain of action or thought, any subject or matter).
| 1852 Gladstone Glean. (1879) IV. 210 Those services, which lie outside the common routine. 1877 L. Tollemache in Fortn. Rev. Dec. 848 Natural forces are in themselves neither moral nor immoral, but outside morality. 1894 J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 67 Any description of them would be outside the purpose of the present work. |
c. Beyond, in addition to, besides, except.
dial.| 1868 Yates Rock Ahead i. ii, ‘Outside them two, and the Squire in his grave..nobody..knows the rights of the story.’ |
2. Of motion or direction: To the outer side of, to the exterior of, to what lies without or beyond.
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxix. 384 [They] flung themselves outside the skin between us. 1885 Law Rep. 29 Chanc. Div. 451 The Court cannot go outside the pleadings in the present action. 1896 Daily News 29 Sept. 6/2 ‘Will you be so kind as to go outside the door and shut it?’ |
3. Comb. outsideman, a man who does work outside.
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) II. 447/1 The outsideman, whose business it is to attend to the pipe, which reaches from the cesspool..to the gullyhole. |