outmost, a.
(ˈaʊtməʊst, -məst)
Also 4 -mest.
[In origin, an altered form of utmest, utmost, assimilated to the positive out. Isolated instances of this assimilation appear in ME., but outmost was hardly an established form till after 1550. Between 1575 and 1675, it gradually supplanted utmost in the literal sense as superlative of out, in which it is synonymous with outermost.]
1. a. Most outward, most external, situated farthest out; farthest from the inside or centre; outermost. Also fig.
| 13.. Coer de L. 2931 That outemeste walle was doun caste. a 1390 Wyclif's Bible Num. xxii. 39 (MS. Bodl. 959) The cytee, that was in the outmost [v. rr. vtmost, vttermoost] coost of his kyngdom. 1565 Stapleton tr. Bede's Hist. Ch. Eng. 140 b, This Nonne was alone..in the outmost places of the monasterie. 1578 Banister Hist. Man v. 83 The first [coat] which is outmost groweth not stretely to the body of the kidneys. 1607 Markham Caval. i. (1617) 28 His outmost teeth of each side haue little black holes in the top of them. 1653 Walton Angler iv. 110 Lay the outmost part of your feather next to your hook. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 31 The first or outmost Skin is called the Cuticle. 1810 Scott Lady of L. v. xii, Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. 1866 Ruskin Crown Wild Olive ii. 108 The outmost and superficial spheres of knowledge. 1882 Farrar Early Chr. I. 422 note, In the Temple all might enter the outmost court. |
b. The sense ‘most out’, ‘farthest out’ is often inseparable from that of ‘most remote’, ‘farthest off’, utmost, uttermost, extreme.
| 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. Table Script. Quotat., Even unto the outmost parts of the earth. 1570 Levins Manip. 176/14 Outmoste, extremus. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 10 From the very outmost endes of the worlde. 1887 W. Morris tr. Homer's Odyssey I. i. 2 The far⁓dwellers outmost of menfolk. 1927 E. S. Rae Hansel fae Hame 1 The hert rugs hame fae outmaist eyens o' earth. |
c. ellipt. The extremest part, the extremity.
| 1634 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. i. xix. 63 Aristotle called it corporis extremitatem, the extremitie or outmost of a body. 1887 W. Morris tr. Homer's Odyssey I. ix. 166 And but little it lacked, but the outmost of the helm it lighted on. |
† 2. a. Final; most complete; = utmost a. 2, 3. Obs.
| 1447 Rolls of Parlt. V. 138/2 Greved, to ther outmost destruction. 1587 T. Hughes Misfort. Arthur iii. iii, Loe, here the last and outmost worke for blades. |
b. ellipt. The utmost point, degree, or limit; esp. in phr. to the outmost. Obs.
| 1671 True Nonconf. 506 After you have striven to the outmost. 1685 Scotch Proclam. 28 Apr. in Lond. Gaz. No. 2032/3 They..shall be punished with the outmost of severity. 1692 Sir W. Hope Fencing-Master 83 To the outmost of my power. |