out of doors
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Outside the house; in the open air. Sin lieth at the door (Gen. iv, 7). The blame of sin attaches to the wrongdoer, and he must take the consequences.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “out of doors” mean?
Outside the house; in the open air. Sin lieth at the door (Gen. iv, 7). The blame of sin attaches to the wrongdoer, and he must take the consequences.
Is “out of doors” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.