1
general::
1. Leave, especially for a distant place, as in The transport planes carried troops shipping out to the Mediterranean. Although this usage originally meant "depart by ship," the expression is no longer limited to that mode of travel. [c. 1900] 2. Send, export, especially to a distant place, as in The factory shipped out many more orders last month. [Mid-1600s] 3. Quit a job or be fired; see SHAPE UP, def. 3.
American Heritage Idioms