Learn English – Can “faze out” mean “lose focus”

idiomsword-usage

Yesterday I was playing a board game with a friend and got lost in thought so much I didn't notice it was my turn.
"Sorry, I fazed out", I mumbled, and moved my piece.

Did I use "phaze out" in the example above correctly?
Is this phrasal verb universally understood?

The phrase came naturally to me, but when I looked it up on the Internet I found a surprisingly scant amount of results, and no dictionary whatsoever seems to mention it.

Best Answer

Unless it's something the kids say these days, I don't think that usage is correct. It could also be a regional quirk. Is it universally understood? Maybe. I could guess what you were trying to say, but I didn't really think it was idiomatic.

Like you said, the dictionary doesn't seem to support this.

Definition of faze
fazed; fazing
transitive verb
: to disturb the composure of : disconcert, daunt • Nothing fazed her. • Criticism did not seem to faze the writer.

There's also phase out:

phase out
phrasal verb
If something is phased out, people gradually stop using it.
They said the present system of military conscription should be phased out.

In my experience, this not used to mean that you got lost in thought.

I think you were thinking of space out:

Definition of space out
intransitive verb
: to become inattentive, distracted, or mentally remote • spaced out halfway through the lecture
(M-W)

There's also zone out:

zone out
1. To lose focus or stop paying attention to something, usually unintentionally. The term can be used to indicate that someone has focused on one thing to the exclusion of all other stimuli. I think I must have zoned out during that lecture, because when it was over I realized I didn't remember anything the professor said. Jerry kind of zones out when he plays video games, so you have to be really loud to get his attention.
(TFD)

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