at outs
- idiom
- Archaic
:
en desacuerdo
- The business partners found themselves at outs over the direction of their company.
Examples
-
She and her sister have been at outs ever since the inheritance dispute.
-
Why are you two at outs again?
-
After the heated debate, the committee members were at outs for weeks.
-
They are often at outs over trivial matters.
-
She and her sister have been at outs ever since the inheritance dispute.
-
The business partners found themselves at outs over the direction of their company.
-
After the heated debate, the committee members were at outs for weeks.
Synonyms
60
4.8
Not agreeing with someone or something
8
8.4
Not friendly and not speaking with someone
4
7.3
Not agreeing with someone and often angry about it
2
7.7
Not in agreement with other people, facts, or ideas
In open, serious conflict with someone
Antonyms
How Cooperative
71
2.1
119
3.5
60
4.8
268
1.6
135
4.1
- Archaic
194
4.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
at + outs
The meaning 'in a state of disagreement' cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'at' and the plural form 'outs' — the plural 'outs' is not a transparent lexical item and the construction is idiomatic/archaic. Even if a learner knows 'at' and 'out', the form 'at outs' does not follow a clear compositional pattern, so a B1 learner would not predict the meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
At outs may come from the simple picture of being outs (outside) of a group: imagine two people standing apart, turned away and not speaking to each other. So, at outs means 'in a state of disagreement or conflict'.