on the way out

on the way out

1. In the process of leaving.

   Quick! She's already on the way out!

2. As someone is leaving.

   He shook my hand on the way out.

3. (informal) Going out of fashion.
   • 1957 June, S. C. Crowther-Smith, “Lower Quadrant”, in Railway Magazine, pages 422, 423:

     The traditional British signal is on its way out. Unsentimental officials will doubtless decree colour-lights from Kings Cross to Waverley, and from Paddington to Penzance, with upper quadrants on minor branches.

4. (informal, euphemistic) Dying.

• “on the way out”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “on someone’s way out”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “on the way out”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “on the way out” (US) / “on the way out” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “on the way out”, in Collins English Dictionary.