time-out
/ˈtaɪm.aʊt/
"time-out" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“time-out” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A short break in the action of a sport, for substitution, consultation, etc.
Corpus desk
Index EN-time-out · time-out · English
time-out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | time-out |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtaɪm.aʊt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “time-out” in English
Rare enough to double-check
time-out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtaɪm.aʊt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for time-out in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From time + out. The correct English form is time-out, spelled T-I-M-E---O-U-T.
Definition
- 1A short break in the action of a sport, for substitution, consultation, etc.
- 2A break from a tense, heated or stressful situation (often enforced, sometimes as a disciplinary measure); a cooling-off period.
- 3The abortion of an incomplete task after a time limit considered long enough for it to end normally.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how time-out appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We're being beaten! We need a time-out!
I'm going to take a brief time-out from this job.
Etymology
From time + out.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.