To Come Off
To Be Off, To Miss
intransitive verb, ichidan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb.
You already learned 外す, which is used when YOU remove something. 外れる, on the other hand means to come off, or to be off. It's used when something ends up outside of where it's supposed to be — like a plug coming out of a socket.
To remember the difference with 外す, just think of how rare (れる) it is for a plug to come out on its own, compared to when you intentionally remove it. It's kind of rare, right?
More figuratively, 外れる can also describe when your expectations are off — the results have ended up "outside" of what you were hoping for.
When something is about to come off, you better hurry and put on your hazmat (はず) suit. Who knows what kind of toxic matter could spray out when this thing comes off. Better take all necessary precautions.
あごが外れる
a jaw dislocates
戸が外れる
a door comes off
チェーンが外れる
a chain comes off
シュートが外れる
a shot misses
コースから外れる
to go off course
ルートから外れる
to go off the route
メンバーから外れる
to be removed as a member, to be left off the team
左に外れる
to come off to the left
上に外れる
to go too high and miss (a target)
クジに外れる
to miss out in a lottery
風が強くて矢がターゲットから外れてしまった。
The wind was strong, and the arrow missed the target.
今日は雨だと思ったのに、予想が外れた。
I thought it would rain today, but my prediction was off.
プラグが外れたので、Mr.ロボットは「ありがとう」と言えなくなった。
Since he came unplugged, Mr. Robot was no longer able to say, "thank you," anymore.