Does "hide out" means "hide"? How does it make a difference when "out" comes after the word? CanI just use "hide" here?

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Great question. Yes. It's perfectly fine to leave out the "out" and just use "hiding", however it would lack some nuance. When you "hide", you're just concealing yourself. Maybe you're avoiding an annoying relative, so you go to the bathroom and stay there until they leave. When you "hide out" it implies that someone is actively looking for you and trying to find you. Criminals will "hide out" somewhere because the police are looking for them, for example. In fact, the noun "hideout" refers to a remote or difficult to locate place where criminals will hide out from police. Ex: I have to hide out from the FBI. Ex: Criminals sometimes hide out in these abandoned houses.

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