max out
Britishverb
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Exhaust one's options, capacity, or the like by producing or performing to the maximum, as in The weight lifter maxed out at 180 kilograms . [ Slang ; late 1900s]
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Reach a point at which no more growth, improvement, or benefit is possible, as in The salary for this job maxes out at $90,000 . [ Slang ; late 1900s]
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Relax, take things easy, as in Let's go to the beach and max out . [ Slang ; late 1900s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fans who won a time slot in this drop but didn’t reach the ticket maximum will be automatically entered into subsequent ticket lotteries until they max out their ticket allotment.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
Traditional SAW devices typically max out at around 4 gigahertz, making the new system far faster.
From Science Daily • Jan. 17, 2026
Avid readers, they "max out" their borrowing, taking 20 books each under their individual library cards, the most they are allowed.
From BBC • Dec. 27, 2025
Each year, we max out our Roth IRAs and our HSA, which we invest.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 24, 2025
Then “you can stick it into your algorithm and max out the score,” one of the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.