see out

see out (third-person singular simple present sees out, present participle seeing out, simple past saw out, past participle seen out)

1. (transitive, formal) To accompany a guest to the door when he or she leaves (also used figuratively).

   Please see our guest out.

   I saw that boy into the world and I will see him out.

2. (transitive) To continue something until completion; to watch an activity develop to a conclusion.

   Synonym: see through

   Coordinate term: carry out

   I'll never give up. I'm going to see this thing out.

   • 2012 March 1, Honor Molloy, Smarty Girl: Dublin Savage, Gemma, →ISBN, page 179:

     Life. He's perished with it. / Is he very near the last? / At the backend of it, I'd say. With the prostate, the lungs, the liver. He's already half-ghost. / Can't we have another tomorrow? / This night will see him out. / God-God-God and God-God-God, please save him. […] The average stay was four to six years, when they died. When death arrived, they'd send for Burke and Hare.

   • 2022 December 14, Kim Fullbrook, “Sunset draws near for long-serving '313s'”, in RAIL, number 972, page 36:

     The surviving units are now seeing out their final days on the Coastway route in Sussex, operated by Southern.

   • 2023 November 25, Rebecca Rose, “How old is too old for a profile pic?”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 22:

     It turns out that, in journalistic terms, and especially at the FT, where many staff see out their entire careers, seven years is nothing.

• oustee, outsee