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to crowd out

to crowd out

10 4.9
To force others out by taking more space, strength or attention
  • phrasal verb
  • /kraʊd aʊt/
translation icon : desplazar a
  • The loud music at the party began to crowd out all other conversations.
  • crowd out native plants
  • crowd out beneficial aquatic plants

So the best way to overcome that is to crowd it out with good things.

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Examples

  • Finally, military actions tend to crowd out attention to other dimensions of foreign policy.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Since then, saltcedar has crowded out native trees like willows and cottonwoods along parts of nearly every western river.

    Academic text (2000)
  • So the best way to overcome that is to crowd it out with good things.

  • But my experience and part of the risk I have when I go into a project is that it tends to crowd out other things.

  • We also know that high levels of government spending crowd out private consumption.

    Academic text (2011)
  • In addition, interest expense would become so large as to crowd out whole categories of federal spending.

    Academic text (2010)
  • The pace and pressure of work frequently crowd out space for sustained reflection and efforts to do things differently.

    Academic text (2017)
  • In the parlance of economics, federal grants "crowd out" assistance that might otherwise come from private sources or states.

    Academic text (1998)
  • You have some balance of reactive work and reflective work, but most people, they let the reactive work crowd out all the reflection.

  • Since 1983, airwaves and vinyl have been saturated with rock sounds, which have crowded out other styles.

    Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

to kick out
vsto crowd out
512 3.0

Force someone to leave a place or group

is caused by being more numerous stronger or more prominent
to drive out
vsto crowd out
70 3.8

Force someone or something to leave a place

is caused by being more numerous stronger or more prominent
to force out
vsto crowd out
46 4.4

To make someone leave a job by pressure or threats

is caused by being more numerous stronger or more prominent
to cast out
vsto crowd out
31 6.2

Force someone to leave a group or place because others reject them

is caused by being more numerous stronger or more prominent
to drum out
vsto crowd out
7 7.4

Make someone leave a group or job in a public, shameful way

is caused by being more numerous stronger or more prominent
to kick-out
vsto crowd out
1 4.0

To force someone to leave a place, group or job

is caused by being more numerous stronger or more prominent
to rout out
vsto crowd out
1 7.1

To force someone or something out of a place by searching

is caused by being more numerous stronger or more prominent
to turf out
vsto crowd out
  • UK
1 8.2

Force someone to leave a place or job

is caused by being more numerous stronger or more prominent

Antonyms

1.0

To make a person or thing part of something larger

233 1.0

Receive something or someone gladly

How Displaced

elimination
  • Offensive
15 5.6
to expel
194 5.0
to oust
80 6.2
to crowd out
10 4.9
to drive out
70 3.8
to push out
16 3.2

Surface Forms

crowd out infinitive
crowded out past participle
crowding out present participle
crowds out third person singular

Morphology

crowd + out

The meaning 'to force someone or something out by being more numerous or prominent' is directly compositional from 'crowd' (to press or gather densely) + 'out' (movement or exclusion). This verb+particle pattern is a regular, cross-linguistic way to express forcing something outward or excluding it, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The phrasal verb crowd out comes from the simple image of a group pushing into a space so much that someone or something is pushed out. So when a crowd fills a place and pushes out others, the phrase means 'to force someone or something out by being more in number or stronger'.