outbreak

American  

[aut-brayk] / ˈaʊtˌbreɪk /

noun

• outbreaks
  plural

1. a sudden breaking out or occurrence, especially of something bad or unpleasant; eruption.

   the outbreak of war.

2. a sudden and active manifestation.

   an outbreak of hives.

3. a sudden increase in the incidence of a disease or medical condition in a particular place or population: a worldwide polio outbreak in the early 1900s.

   a serious outbreak of malaria in northern Uganda;

   a worldwide polio outbreak in the early 1900s.

4. an outburst.

   an outbreak of temper.

5. an insurrection, revolt, or mutiny.

6. a public disturbance; riot.

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outbreak British  

/ ˈaʊtˌbreɪk /

noun

1. a sudden, violent, or spontaneous occurrence, esp of disease or strife

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• outbreaks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of outbreak

First recorded in 1595–1605; out- + break

Explanation

A sudden or abrupt onset of something really bad is an outbreak. You could experience an outbreak of measles or an outbreak of violence; either way, try to protect yourself. When you talk about an outbreak of something, it's almost always something terrible, or at least unwanted. You might hear about an outbreak of war in a distant country, or an outbreak of violence in a big city, or an outbreak of disease among farm animals. Outbreak started as a Middle English verb around 1300, becoming a noun meaning "eruption" about three hundred years later.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

outbreak outbreaks

More than 4,000 people have died from Ebola in DR Congo this year, in what is the second most deadly known outbreak to date.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Uganda imposed restrictions on movement across its border with DR Congo shortly after the outbreak began in May.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

To date, neither the agency nor Taylor Farms has publicly identified what caused the cyclospora outbreak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

This is the latest twist for the U.S. produce industry, which was rocked by the cyclospora outbreak last summer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

A television journalist in the Farm Belt once said this about a suspected outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease: The pasture contained several cows seen by news reporters that were dead, diseased, or dying.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

When several different microorganisms are associated with a disease, identifying the responsible bacteria, predicting outbreaks, and developing consistently effective treatments become more challenging.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

Russia’s consumer watchdog agency responded that it would be willing to help the U.S. with its outbreaks of measles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

In an apparent response, Rospotrebnadzor on Tuesday announced that Russia was prepared to assist the United States in combating its own outbreaks of infectious diseases.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

Northern Ireland will be even cloudier, with some outbreaks of mainly light rain and drizzle.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

They flew first to Geneva, to make contact with the World Health Organization, where they found that the who knew very little about the outbreaks.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Related Words

• crash
• disruption
• epidemic
• eruption
• explosion
• flare-up
• onset
• plague
• storm
• surge
• uprising