outage
Americannoun
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an interruption or failure in the supply of power, especially electricity.
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the period during which power is lost.
a two-hour outage on the East Coast.
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a stoppage in the functioning of a machine or mechanism due to a failure in the supply of power or electricity.
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the quantity of goods lost or lacking from a shipment.
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Aeronautics. the amount of fuel used during a flight.
noun
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a quantity of goods missing or lost after storage or shipment
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a period of power failure, machine stoppage, etc
Etymology
Origin of outage
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The outage at QatarEnergy, the world’s largest LNG exporter, has in turn knocked offline the No. 1 global supplier of helium, while blunting regional fertilizer exports and jolting aluminum production.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
A mass robotaxi outage in the Chinese city of Wuhan caused at least a hundred self-driving cars to stop mid-traffic, sparking renewed debate around the safety of driverless vehicles.
From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026
In December 2025, a large power outage in San Francisco led Waymo taxis to stop working around the city, causing huge traffic jams.
From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026
“If this refinery sees a major multi-week outage, that would certainly be bad news for the refinery and for global prices,” De Haan said.
From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026
I step outside to see if it’s a power outage everywhere or just in our apartment.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
