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Glite Dictionary
🗣️ Explain clearly 🔤 Say each letter
to spell out

to spell out

53 3.0
To say each letter of a word so others can hear the spelling
  • phrasal verb
  • /spɛl aʊt/
translation icon : deletrear
  • Can you please spell out your name so I can write it down correctly?
  • spell out the name

In the in the song, the animals spell out flubs and the eagle says the letter B.

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Examples

  • So what we want to know is, OK, since I don't have time to tell us, we'll spell it out for you exactly.

  • OK, we'll spell it out on the bottom.

  • I just think that I might have to spell it out for you.

  • Do I have to spell it out for you?

    Foe Paws (2000)

  • Let me spell it out for you.

    Godzilla (1998)

  • You want me to spell it out?

    Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

  • Why should a woman need to spell it out for him?

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Why don't you spell it out for me?

    The Lilac Thief (2019)

  • Jeez, Bo, do I really have to spell it out for you?

    Children of the Corn (2020)

  • "What do I have to do, spell everything out for you?" Curt hissed.

    Fiction book (1999)

Synonyms

to spell
vsto spell out
400 1.0

Say or write the letters of a word in the correct order

gives each letter one by one to make the word clearer
to write out
vsto spell out
25 2.4

Put all the details on a form or paper

gives each letter one by one to make the word or name clear
to fingerspell
vsto spell out
8.8

Use hand shapes to show each letter of a word in sign language

uses spoken or written letters one by one rather than hand signs

How Detailed

to spell out
53 3.0
to write
∞ 1.0
to say
∞ 1.0
to mention
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

spell out infinitive
spelled out past
spelled out past participle
spelling out present participle
spells out third person singular

Morphology

spell + out

The sense 'to state or explain clearly' is a metaphorical extension of 'spell' (to name/write letters) with 'out' adding a sense of making something fully explicit or public. The connection is partly predictable from the constituents but relies on a figurative use of 'spell', so a B1 learner who knows the words might guess the general idea but not reliably derive the exact meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Spell out comes from the act of saying each letter of a word one by one; you spell a name out loud so the other person hears every letter. That's why it means 'to say or write each letter' to make the spelling clear.