to luck out
22
8.0
- phrasal verb
- /lʌk aʊt/
- Informal
:
tener suerte
- - We just lucked out.
- I really lucked out
- Maybe I lucked out
- We lucked out with the weather
But it just like guess, like just lucked out.
- But it just like guess, like just lucked out.
- So you're just, you just got kind of lucked out basically.
- Well, what happened to me really was I lucked out so much in that I was able to keep a foot in both worlds.
- And so as you come through that, it's really important to come back and not not reinforce bad habits just because you lucked out.
- I just did, you know, I just, I guess I just, I was still young, you know, and, and I like shooting, you know, so I just lucked out.
- Because what's happened here is we've we've lucked out because Valo was passing through the Congress to be able to latch onto it.
- So if you luck out and get something that's really, you know, that special, special film, you can charge screening fees.
- I I sort of lucked out me, my dear friend John Mulaney, Mike Birbiglia.
Examples
-
As a Knicks fan, I truly think we lucked out having him.
Blog text (13) -
We never lost. "Maybe I'll luck out tonight," Jack said.
Fiction book (1999) -
If we luck out, we'll get a shot at seeing the man supposed to be responsible tonight.
Fiction book (2002) -
A few of them are bound to luck out and make it.
Fiction book (2000) -
"I happened to luck out," she concludes.
Academic text (2004) -
Unless they luck out and get spotted immediately?
Academic text (2007) -
I guess I lucked out, then.
-
We lucked out like mad.
-
Maybe we'll luck out again and find civilian help that doesn't ask any questions.
-
After searching for hours, I finally lucked out and found the last ticket to the concert.
Synonyms
30
6.6
To get something by chance rather than by planning or effort
24
4.0
To have a big, unexpected success because of luck
1
6.5
To succeed by chance rather than by skill
To get unexpected good luck
To succeed by chance without skill or planning
Antonyms
How Lucky
24
4.0
- Informal
22
8.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
luck + out
The noun 'luck' already signals that the expression relates to fortunate outcomes, so a learner who knows 'luck' and the common particle 'out' can often infer a general sense of succeeding by chance. However, the particle 'out' contributes a resultative/idiomatic nuance and the specific phrasal-verb usage ('luck out' = unexpectedly succeed) may not be fully predictable without prior exposure, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrasal verb luck out comes from games and gambling; one popular story says imagine a winning card or ball popping out for you so the luck comes out to you. So, it means 'to have good luck' or 'succeed by chance'.