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Glite Dictionary
over and out

over and out

5 7.7
To show you have finished speaking, especially on a radio
  • idiom
  • Jargon
translation icon : corto y cambio
  • "Over and out," the old man said.

Let's guys over and out, over and out, over and out.

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Examples

Synonyms

goodbye
vsover and out
∞ 1.0

Words people say when they leave each other

signals that the speaker finishes speaking without expressing good wishes
over
vsover and out
25 1.0

Finished and no longer happening

is an uttered signal for finishing a conversation rather than a general label
all over with
vsover and out
  • Informal
5 2.8

Finished and no longer happening

focuses on ending the talk at once rather than marking task completion

Antonyms

to continue
∞ 1.0

To keep doing something without stopping

to stay on the line
18 3.0

To remain connected by phone while you wait for help

How Final

over and out
  • Jargon
5 7.7
goodbye
∞ 1.0
bye
  • Informal
306 1.0

Surface Forms

over and out main

Morphology

over + and + out

Both constituents ('over' meaning ended and 'out' meaning away/finished) relate to termination, so a learner who knows the words may guess it signals an ending; however, the specific convention of radio/signals usage and the fused communicative function ('I'm finished and signing off') is jargon-like and not fully predictable from ordinary word use. Because the meaning is partly inferable from the parts but relies on conventionalized technical usage, it is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

Over and out comes from radio operators who used short words to control a talk. They used over to mean 'your turn to speak' and out to mean 'I am finished', so saying both became a clear way to end a call and now means 'the conversation is finished'.