From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmap something ↔ out phrasal verbPLANto plan carefully how something will happen Her own future had been mapped out for her by wealthy and adoring parents. → map→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
map out• The best view of the vale is from the hills surrounding it; it looks like a map spread out.• From the map, cut out a section to fit inside the frame and glue it in place.• Later, in the business room, with the site maps spread out before them, John explained his new ideas.• Radar mapping is carried out by using a very powerful radar transmitter to send bursts of radar power at the target.• A new edition of these maps was brought out in 1801.• In an office on the pier Coffin and Lane had maps spread out in front of them.• If you want to find me on the map, check out the color-coded weather map in the newspaper.• I went round another corner and took out the map to find out where I was, but it didn't help. 