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Glite Dictionary
🚪 To release 😮‍💨 To express a sound 🤫 To reveal 👖 To make bigger
to let out

to let out

8 3.8
Make clothing larger by sewing so it fits more comfortably
  • phrasal verb
  • /lɛt aʊt/
translation icon : ensanchar
  • If it's a sleeve without buttons, it's easy to let out some length or to shorten the length.
  • let out the pants
  • let out the hem

Examples

  • Tomorrow I'll let out those trousers for you.

    Witness (1985)

  • We'll let out the shoulders a little bit.

    Critical Condition (1987)

  • I told you, I already had it let out for you.

    Marjorie Morningstar (1958)

  • Her mother was so mad she made her let out all her own clothes.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • And let it out a little in the waist.

    Deadpool 2 (2018)

  • Thanks to you, now I've had to let out every pair of pants I own.

    The Help (2011)

  • Monica had let out the waist, and Josie thought it suited him just fine.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Tomorrow I'll let out those trousers for you.

  • I might be able to let out this dress just enough for it to fit.

  • We'll let out the shoulders of this jacket a little bit.

Synonyms

to widen
vsto let out
85 2.5

To make something have more space from one side to the other so it fits or moves more easily

is specific to altering garments by sewing for more room

Antonyms

to restrict
361 3.1

Limit how much people can use or access something

to tighten
145 1.5

To make something hold firmly, like a bolt or belt

to take in
43 4.9

Make a piece of clothing smaller by sewing it

How Loose

to expand
805 2.5
to enlarge
70 3.0
to let out
8 3.8
to alter
493 2.5

Surface Forms

let out infinitive
let out past
let out past participle
letting out present participle
lets out third person singular

Morphology

let + out

The meaning 'to make known information' follows directly from 'let' (allow) + 'out' (to the outside/public) — allowing something private to go out into the open. This compositional motion/disclosure pattern for particle out is common and cross-linguistically plausible, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would very likely infer this sense.

Etymology

Let out comes from sewing: tailors would let a seam or piece of cloth go out to give more room and make the clothes bigger. So, it means 'to make an item of clothing larger'.