flunk out

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flunk out (third-person singular simple present flunks out, present participle flunking out, simple past and past participle flunked out)

1. (idiomatic) To fail to finish school, or a given subject, program or course, due to academic shortcomings; i.e., to have too many flunking or failing grades (marks).

   He flunked out of high school as a youth, but finished school later in life.

2. (idiomatic) (of an educator or institution) To impose failing grades on (a student), often requiring a retaking of the course or academic year.
   • 1974, Robert M Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow & Company, →ISBN:

     They could simply have replied, "No, we're way too square. And until you do come up with an answer, stick to the syllabus so that we don't have to flunk out your mixed-up students when we get them next quarter."

• drop out