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Glite Dictionary
to zoom out

to zoom out

5 4.1
To look at a wider area to see the whole picture
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : alejar
  • If you zoom out, you can see how everything connects in the big picture.

But if you really kind of zoom out, it's not that.

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Examples

  • Steve Jobs said, "A lot of success is the ability to zoom out."

    Blog text (12)

  • So now we might zoom out and ask some broader questions.

    Academic text (2017)

  • But if you really kind of zoom out, it's not that.

    FLAGRANT

  • OK, so if we zoom out then amazing story.

  • It's possible to say kind of zoom out and say that we're all in this together.

    Lex Fridman

  • Okay, so you can zoom out.

    The Intern (2015)

  • What I want to do is zoom out, take a bird's eye view.

    André Duqum

  • So if we zoom out and you can see, look at this downtrend right here.

  • Because water is fundamental to all life on Earth, we also want to zoom out by another factor of 10 million to study its properties on a global scale.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Zooming out gives you some context for where we are in the Milky Way.

    Blog text (16)

Synonyms

to expand
vsto zoom out
805 2.5

To grow larger in size, amount, or importance

changes viewpoint to view a wider area without growing the thing itself
to widen
vsto zoom out
85 2.5

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

adjusts the viewpoint to show more area rather than changing the object

Antonyms

to narrow
204 2.8

Make options or choices fewer to focus on the best

to zoom in
  • Texting
33 3.7

To look closely at one part to see small details

How Broad

to zoom out
  • Informal
5 4.1
big picture
106 3.4
to pull back
162 3.4
to step back
101 3.6

Surface Forms

zoom out infinitive
zoomed out past
zoomed out past participle
zooming out present participle
zooms out third person singular

Morphology

zoom + out

The sense 'to widen the view / consider more broadly' is partially inferable because the particle 'out' signals movement away and 'zoom' can denote a change in visual scale (camera zooming) or rapid movement; combining them yields a movement to a wider vantage. However, not all B1 learners will know the camera/scale sense of 'zoom' (many know only the ‘move fast’ sense), and the abstract metaphorical use (broader perspective) requires prior exposure, so the relation is not fully predictable.

Etymology

Zoom out comes from cameras and maps, where you make the view smaller so you zoom out and can see more of the area. So, to zoom out now means 'see the whole picture' or 'think more broadly'.