crowd out
crowd out — idiom
1. to push someone or something aside by taking up the space, attention, or opportu
to push someone or something aside by taking up the space, attention, or opportunities that they need to survive or succeed.
Hyun worries that digital books will crowd out printed picture books in children's libraries.
will crowd out [something] — expressing future displacement
Small family farms have been crowded out by large agricultural companies across the region.
passive: be crowded out by [someone/something]
Karim did not let extra work crowd out his weekend time with his kids.
Food delivery apps have crowded out many small lunch spots that cannot afford the fees.
Adaeze felt pop music was crowding out the traditional folk songs she grew up with.
- make room for
the opposite action — creating space or opportunity instead of eliminating it
文法句型
be crowded out by [something/someone]
用法筆記
This sense works naturally in both active and passive voice. The subject of active sentences is the displacing entity (e.g., a large company); the passive version emphasises the entity being displaced. The subject is typically a smaller or weaker entity — such as a local business, a minority language, or a traditional practice — that loses its position to a larger or more powerful one.
常見錯誤
crowd out — phrasal verb
- crowd outbase form
- crowds out3rd person singular
- crowding out-ing form
- crowded outpast simple
1. to take up every bit of a space, leaving nobody and nothing else able to get in
to take up every bit of a space, leaving nobody and nothing else able to get in or stay there.
Fans crowded out the main square an hour before the concert was set to begin.
crowded out [place] — filling a physical space with people
Old furniture in the garage had crowded out Eric's bicycle and tools over the years.
Students had crowded out every library table, leaving Apinya nowhere to sit.
Too many stalls crowded out the pedestrian walkway, forcing people to step onto the road.
Quan tried to crowd the boxes out of the hallway for the movers.
- clear
to remove things or people from a space, making it empty again
文法句型
crowd [someone/something] out (of [place])
用法筆記
Unlike the idiom sense, this meaning is regularly used in the active voice. It is also separable: the object can come between 'crowd' and 'out' (crowd the furniture out) or after (crowd out the furniture).