TIME-OUT Definition & Meaning

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time-out

noun

sport an interruption in play during which players rest, discuss tactics, or make substitutions
a break taken during working hours
computing a condition occurring when the amount of time a computer has been instructed to wait for another device to perform a task has expired, usually indicated by an error message

verb

intr (of a computer) to stop operating because of a time-out

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Idioms and Phrases

A short break from work or play; also, a punishment for misbehavior in young children in which they are briefly separated from the group. For example, People rush around so much these days that I think everyone should take some time out now and then , or We don't throw food, Brian; you need some time out to think about it . This expression comes from a number of sports in which it signifies an interruption in play where the officials stop the clock, for purposes of rest, making a substitution, or consultation. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Both of these teams surprised me a bit last time out, and not in a good way.

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Won for the first time in two years last time out at Thurles.

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I don't really want to feel like that, so I've taken time out.

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That spring, Disney took on additional debt after its theme parks shuttered, movie theaters closed and sports leagues called time out.

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A woman took the time out of her Saturday evening to message me on social media, and tell me that I deserve to be shot.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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