Outfall
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A sudden eruption of troops from a fortified place; sally. obsolete
- 2 the outlet of a river or drain or other source of water wordnet
- 3 A quarrel; a falling out. dialectal
- 4 The point or place of discharge of a river, drain, culvert, sewer, etc.; mouth; embouchure.
"West of Keswick a short descent at 1 in 122 brings the train down to the low-lying and marshy ground between Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lake and to the crossing of the Derwent - the outfall from Derwentwater, [...]."
- 1 To burst forth, as upon an enemy; make a sally. obsolete, transitive
Example
More examples"West of Keswick a short descent at 1 in 122 brings the train down to the low-lying and marshy ground between Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lake and to the crossing of the Derwent - the outfall from Derwentwater, [...]."
Etymology
From Middle English outfallen, equivalent to out- + fall. Compare Dutch uitvallen (“to fall out, sally”), German ausfallen (“to fall out, lunge”), Swedish utfalla (“to fall out”).
From out- + fall. Compare Dutch uitval (“outburst, sally, eruption”), German Ausfall (“falling out, sally”), Swedish utfall (“sally, issue”).
Related phrases
More for "outfall"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.