Source vs. Outlet

The person, place, or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired.

Example: ‘The accused refused to reveal the source of the illegal drugs she was selling.’;

Spring; fountainhead; wellhead; any collection of water on or under the surface of the ground in which a stream originates.

Example: ‘The main sources of the Euphrates River are the Karasu and Murat Rivers.’;

A reporter's informant.

(computing) Source code.

(electronics) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).

To obtain or procure: used especially of a business resource.

(transitive) To find information about (a quotation)'s source from which it comes: to find a citation for.

The act of rising; a rise; an ascent.

Example: ‘Therefore right as an hawk upon a soursUp springeth into the air, right so prayers . . . Maken their sours to Goddes ears two.’;

The rising from the ground, or beginning, of a stream of water or the like; a spring; a fountain.

Example: ‘Where as the Poo out of a welle smallTaketh his firste springing and his sours.’; ‘Kings that ruleBehind the hidden sources of the Nile.’;

That from which anything comes forth, regarded as its cause or origin; the person from whom anything originates; first cause.

Example: ‘This source of ideas every man has wholly in himself.’; ‘The source of Newton's light, of Bacon's sense.’;

the place where something begins, where it springs into being;

Example: ‘the Italian beginning of the Renaissance’; ‘Jupiter was the origin of the radiation’; ‘Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River’; ‘communism's Russian root’;

a person who supplies information

a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to;

Example: ‘he carried an armful of references back to his desk’; ‘he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation’;

a document (or organization) from which information is obtained;

Example: ‘the reporter had two sources for the story’;

a facility where something is available

anything that provides inspiration for later work

someone who originates or causes or initiates something;

Example: ‘he was the generator of several complaints’;

(technology) a process by which energy or a substance enters a system;

Example: ‘a heat source’; ‘a source of carbon dioxide’;

anything (a person or animal or plant or substance) in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies;

Example: ‘an infectious agent depends on a reservoir for its survival’;

get (a product) from another country or business;

Example: ‘She sourced a supply of carpet’; ‘They are sourcing from smaller companies’;

specify the origin of;

Example: ‘The writer carefully sourced her report’;

A vent or similar passage to allow the escape of something.

Something which allows for the release of one's desires.

A river that runs out of a lake.

A shop that sells the products of a particular manufacturer or supplier.

A wall-mounted device such as a socket or receptacle connected to an electrical system at which current is taken to supply utilization equipment or appliances.

The place or opening by which anything is let out; a passage out; an exit; a vent.

Example: ‘Receiving all, and having no outlet.’;

To let out; to emit.

a place of business for retailing goods

receptacle providing a place in a wiring system where current can be taken to run electrical devices

an opening that permits escape or release;

Example: ‘he blocked the way out’; ‘the canyon had only one issue’;

activity that releases or expresses creative energy or emotion;

Example: ‘she had no other outlet for her feelings’; ‘he gave vent to his anger’;