egress

1 of 2

noun

1
: a place or means of going out : exit
2
: the action or right of going or coming out

egress

2 of 2

verb

egressed; egressing; egresses

intransitive verb

: to go or come out

Examples of egress in a Sentence

Noun The system lets you lower the truck to ease ingress and egress, and raise it for added ground clearance. Scott Oldham, Popular Mechanics, August 1998
One comprehends how undisturbed he was, and how safe from any danger of interruption, when it is stated that he even carried off a unicorn's horn—a mere curiosity—which would not pass through the egress entire, but had to be sawn in two—a bit of work which cost him hours of tedious labor. Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, 1880
When she had laid the supper-cloth, the bridge was lowered to give her means of egress, and she withdrew for the night. Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1861
The auditorium is designed to provide easy egress in an emergency. the only egress from the nightclub was a dark, narrow stairway to the street below
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Ground teams recently installed a platform for the mobile launcher's emergency egress baskets. Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 18 Aug. 2023 Three of the world’s great maritime choke points surround the Arabian Peninsula: the Strait of Hormuz, which controls ingress and egress from the Gulf; the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, at one end of the Red Sea; and the Suez Canal, at the other, leading to the Mediterranean. Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic, 24 Jan. 2024 Egypt, diplomats said, refused to open its side of the Rafah border crossing either for humanitarian assistance of refugee egress until the attacks stopped. Kareem Fahim, Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2023 Rear doors swing out an unusual 90 degrees for easy ingress and egress. IEEE Spectrum, 18 Nov. 2023 The difficult negotiations, and laborious process of allowing both Egypt and Israel to vet every name on exit lists, have also delayed the egress of thousands of foreign nationals from Gaza into Egypt. Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2023 Ingress and egress are halted until further notice. Natasha Dye, Peoplemag, 8 Sep. 2023 The change will allow for more efficient egress for Tiger Transit Buses, as well as those that park in the business school and public safety lots. Ben Flanagan | Bflanagan@al.com, al, 1 Sep. 2023 The rear seats are more than adequate for a six-footer, and ingress and egress are painless. Steven Cole Smith, Car and Driver, 2 Sep. 2023
Verb
The fire destroyed nine hundred and eleven homes, and many houses in the region are situated off narrow serpentine roads that make ingress and egress a challenge. Ingfei Chen, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2022 No word on whether the wasp was shot down or managed to safely egress the battlespace. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 3 Jan. 2017 In the event of an accident, passengers must always be able to safely egress from the aircraft. R. Eric Jones, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'egress.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Latin egressus, from egredi to go out, from e- + gradi to go — more at grade entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1538, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

1578, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of egress was in 1538

Dictionary Entries Near egress

Cite this Entry

“Egress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/egress. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

egress

noun
ˈē-ˌgres
1
: the act or right of going or coming out
2
: a way out : exit

Legal Definition

egress

1 of 2 noun
1
: the action or right of going or coming out
2
: a place or means of going out or exiting compare ingress

egress

2 of 2 intransitive verb
: to go or come out
Etymology

Noun

Medieval Latin egressus, literally, act of going out, departure, from Latin, from egredi to go out, from e- out + gradi to make one's way

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