1961, Joan Didion, "On Self-Respect", in Slouching Towards Bethlehem:
I marvel that a mind on the outs with itself should have nevertheless made a painstaking record of its every tremor.
1964, John Anton Dahl, Student, School, and Society: Crosscurrents in Secondary Education, page 83:
A second ill of this day lies in the trend of getting more and more on the outs with those who have been more successful than we.
1998, Henry J. Frundt, Trade Conditions and Labor Rights: U.S. Initiatives, Dominican and Central ..., page 68:
"The first country, Nicaragua, was a give-away," noted one State Department observer, referring to the GSP review of the country most on the outs with the administration.
2003, John Wingspread Howell, Naked in Church, page 409:
The fact that he and her sister seemed to be more on the outs than ever may have been half her motivation in leaving the door open a crack.