co-opt (one) into (something)

To convince one to take a certain action or position. I think he was beginning to see the benefits of our plan, but we'll never co-opt him into it now that you've insulted him! He's always co-opting other people in the office into doing the quarterly reports for him. Whoa, how did you finally co-opt her into supporting our idea?

opt for (something)

To choose some option in preference to others. The kids opted for a trip to Disneyland instead of New York City. Personally, I would just opt to stay home. I always opt for first class when I fly overseas.

opt in (to something)

To choose to participate or be involved in something. I don't usually opt in to guided tours, but I'd heard good things about this one. Any student who wishes to opt in needs to have their permission slips handed in by the end of the week.

opt in favor of (someone or something)

To choose some person or thing in preference to someone or something else. The kids opted in favor of a trip to Disneyland instead of New York City. Personally, I would opt in favor of staying home. You had a very strong application and interview, but the company has opted in favor of someone else.

opt out (of something)

To choose not to participate or be involved in something. I opted out of the guided tour, preferring to explore the city by myself. Students are free to opt out if they do not wish to be a part of the school performance.

See also: opt, out

co-opt someone into something

to convince someone of a differing view to adopt one's position or philosophy. They tried to co-opt the students into rioting. There is no point in trying to co-opt them into it. They are too clever.

opt for something

to choose a particular option. I opted for the orange one. I opt for not going out at all.

opt in favor of someone or something

to choose a particular person; to choose a particular thing. Do you think she will opt in favor of this one or that? We will opt in favor of David.

opt in(to something)

to choose to join in. She opted into our plans. She opted in almost immediately.

opt out (of something)

to choose not to be in something. If you do that, I'm going to have to opt out of the club. Then go ahead and opt out.

See also: opt, out

opt out

Choose not to participate, as in Our school opted out of the state competition. [Slang; mid-1900s]

See also: opt, out

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

opt for

To choose something, especially over some other option: I opted for a king-sized bed when I made my hotel reservation.

opt out

To choose not to participate in something: When she rented the car, she opted out of the extra insurance. Everyone on my baseball team is going to run in the marathon, but I opted out.

See also: opt, out

See also:

References in periodicals archive

However, Israel's persistent refusal to allow him to enter the OPT means that Mr.

PHROC Condemns Israel's Denial of Entry to UN Special Rapporteur, Mr. Michael Lynk

Ohio is reconsidering its policy of assigning a zero score to students who opt out, which can have a dramatic effect on their school's overall accountability scores.

The opt-out movement and the power of parents: After years of writing and speaking about standardized testing, a veteran educator finds a new way to influence policy

He said there should be a policy encouraging some pensioners to opt out.

MPs react differently to Old Age pension motion

The mixture was manually shaken and formed to ensure sufficient compactness and evenness distribution of OPT fiber inside the wooden former.

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT THICKNESS OF OIL PALM TRUNK (OPT) FIBERBOARD ON ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES

Opt-out classes, which include all members who do not opt out, tend to be more inclusive than opt-in classes, which include only members who affirmatively opt in.

An opt-in option for class actions

The two-year opt out automatically renews unless the physician elects not to renew it under Section 106(D):

Opting out of Medicare

State laws in California and Utah allow parents to opt their children out of state assessments for any reason.

State laws unclear when families opt out of tests

On the Eugene School District's opt-out page (bit.ly/LZFPwx), you will be warned that your school's report card may be downgraded if you opt your student out, and that property values might decrease due to a substandard report card.

New testing program raises ethical questions

Although customers could opt out of having their information sold to third-party marketers, Verizon chd not offer an opt out of the UIDH until the end of January.

Verizon yields to pressure

We can opt out of the open electoral register but in order to do that we have to online,there are however many residents who are not computer literate and sadly won't bother.

Always taking hard way out; Views of the North

Fritz Foley, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Jonathan Greenstein, and Eric Zwick show that 80 percent of all cross-listed foreign firms opt out of at least one exchange governance rule.

Corporate governance and cross-listed firms

FOOTBALL fans jetting off to the World Cup in Brazil could be stung with "eye-watering" mobile phone bills amounting to nearly PS5,000 if they opt out of automatic mobile data limits imposed by most networks.

Fans warned on phone bills; pound NOTES

Supreme Court's decision that allowed states to opt out of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act "will have adverse health and financial consequences." Among those, according to the analysis, are women forgoing recommended breast and cervical cancer screening, diabetics skipping medication and low-income adults facing "a greater likelihood of depression, medical expenses and death."

States gambling with lives by not expanding Medicaid, analysts say

The United Kingdom plans to opt out of a whole raft of EU laws relating to police and criminal justice cooperation, but according to Home Secretary Theresa May London would opt back in to other pieces of legislation.

LONDON MULLS OPTING OUT OF EU LAWS

The Board of Trustees for the Hot Springs community college decided last month to opt out of the state law, though the official policy won't be adopted until the board's next meeting.

Ark. college chooses to opt out of gun law