1. Home
2. Idioms
3. rough out

rough out

---

---

rough something out

to make a rough sketch of something. I will rough it out and have one of the staff artists attend to the details. Jane roughed out a picture of the proposed building.

See also: out, rough

rough something out

also rough out something

1. to make a first plan for an activity Tyler started to rough out a list of schools she might want to attend.

2. to create something in its approximate, but not finished, form We watched as a carver began to work on the block of stone, roughing the sculpture out.

See also: out, rough

rough out

Also, rough in. Prepare or indicate in unfinished form, as in He roughed out several plans for a merger, or They roughed in where the doors would go without checking with the architect. [Second half of 1700s]

See also: out, rough

rough out

v.

To prepare or indicate something in an unfinished form; make a preliminary sketch or plan of something: We met to rough out the agenda for the upcoming week. They roughed a plan out and estimated how long the project would take.

See also: out, rough