Outbreak
/ˈaʊtbɹeɪk/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An eruption; the sudden appearance of a rash, disease, etc.
"Any epidemic outbreak causes understandable panic."
- 2 a sudden violent spontaneous occurrence (usually of some undesirable condition) wordnet
- 3 A sudden increase.
"There has been an outbreak of vandalism at the school."
- 4 An outburst or sudden eruption, especially of violence and mischief. figuratively
"There has been an outbreak of broken windows in the street."
- 5 Synonym of breakout (“escape from prison”).
Verb
- 1 To burst out or break forth. intransitive
Example
More examples"A chain of events led to the outbreak of the war."
Etymology
From Middle English outbreken, oute-breken, from Old English ūtābrecan (“to break out”), equivalent to out- + break. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uutbreeke (“to break out; burst out”), West Frisian útbrekke (“to break out”), Dutch uitbreken (“to break out, burst out”), German ausbrechen (“to break out, erupt”).