fade out

fade out

1. verb To vanish gradually from view or audibility. And then we'll fade out, and the credits will start to roll. Once their song started to fade out, I burst into tears. What a sweet homage to their 20-year love story! I want to fade out on the shot of the happy family having a meal together.

2. verb To cause something to vanish gradually from view or audibility. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "fade" and "out." Fade that scene out and then roll the credits. Hey, ask the sound engineer if he can fade the sax out at this point in the song. Please fade the song out so it doesn't end so abruptly.

3. noun The act of slowly ceasing to be seen or heard. When used as a noun, the phrase is usually written as one word. The fadeout on that song needs to be less abrupt. Can we add a fadeout on the sax? That transition between those scenes was totally jarring. Can we improve the fadeout please?

See also: fade, out

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

fade something out

to diminish something altogether. (Broadcasting.) At the end, you should fade the music out completely. Fade out the music earlier.

See also: fade, out

fade out

 and fade away

to diminish and go away altogether. The light in the distance faded out as the sun began to set. The light faded out as the candles burned themselves out, one by one. As it got farther into the distance, the car faded away.

See also: fade, out

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

fade out

1. Gradually disappear or become inaudible; also, cause to disappear or become inaudible gradually. For example, He let the final chord fade out completely before he played the next movement. The antonym is fade in, "to appear gradually or become audible," as in The images on the screen faded in until they could be seen clearly. These terms originated in the motion-picture and broadcasting industries, where they apply to images and sounds. [c. 1915]

2. Also, fade away. Quietly depart, as in "Florence Scape, Fanny Scape and their mother faded away to Boulogne" (William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, 1848). [Mid-1800s]

See also: fade, 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.

fade out

v.

1. To disappear gradually: The final scene of the movie faded out.

2. To cause something, especially a sound or a cinematic or television image, to disappear gradually: The technician will fade out the lights when the speaker gets off the stage. I faded the spotlight out at the end of the act.

See also: fade, out

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.