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crowd out

B2 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

When one thing takes up so much space that another thing gets pushed out and has no room left.

Literal meaning: A crowd pushing something outward until it has no space left.

Meanings

1 B2 idiomatic neutral

To force out or displace something by occupying all available space or resources.

"Supermarket chains have gradually crowded out the small independent grocery stores."

Grammar: separable
2 C1 idiomatic formal

(Economics) Of government borrowing: to reduce the funds available for private sector investment.

"Critics argued that high public spending was crowding out private investment."

Grammar: separable
3 B2 idiomatic neutral

To prevent something from getting attention by filling the space with other things.

"Social media notifications were crowding out her ability to focus on deep work."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Common in economics (government borrowing crowding out private investment), ecology (invasive species crowding out native ones), and everyday speech. Also used in scheduling and attention contexts.

Commonly used with

competition investment native species small businesses alternatives voices

Forms

Base
crowd out
I/you/we/they
3rd person
crowds out
he/she/it
Past simple
crowded out
yesterday
Past participle
crowded out
have + pp
-ing form
crowding out
continuous

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Synonyms

squeeze out push out displace edge out drive out supplant

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