outbreak en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈaʊtbɹeɪk/
- (US) audio
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”). The noun is cognate with Saterland Frisian Uutbreek (“outbreak”), West Frisian útbrek (“outbreak”), Dutch uitbraak (“outbreak”), and German Ausbruch (“outbreak”), and is comparable to Danish udbrud (“outbreak”), Faroese and Icelandic útbrot (“rash”), Norwegian utbrudd (“outbreak”), and Swedish utbrott (“outbreak”).
Meanings
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An eruption; the sudden appearance of a rash, disease, etc.
In a December 5 post on X, CDC Acting Director Jim O’Neill said there was no epidemiological evidence linking the Texas outbreak and the ongoing cases in South Carolina. A U.S. Health and Human Services spokesman confirmed that the CDC has found no epidemiological evidence linking ongoing outbreaks to Texas, but said many recent U.S. cases share the same genotype and have no known source of infection, “which could indicate ongoing domestic transmission.”
2026 January 9, “US builds case to retain measles elimination status as infections mount”, in CNN, sourced from Reuters, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2026:Any epidemic outbreak causes understandable panic.
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A sudden increase.
There has been an outbreak of vandalism at the school.
One such investigation described how kindness can be contagious. It was sparked by reports of an outbreak of kindness on a cold December morning in 2012.
2025 November 13, Kamala Thiagarajan, “If you're going to be kind to another human, today is the day to do it!”, in NPR, archived from the original on 02 Dec 2025:
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(figuratively) An outburst or sudden eruption, especially of violence and mischief.
There has been an outbreak of broken windows in the street.
- Synonym of breakout (“escape from prison”).
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| outbreaks | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
preoutbreak · interoutbreak · postoutbreak · sun outage · intraoutbreak
Synonyms
breakout · tumult (figurative outburst) · outburst (figurative outburst)
Translations (68)
de Ausbruch (an eruption, sudden appearance) · cmn 激增 (a sudden increase) · fi puhkeaminen (an eruption, sudden appearance) · nl uitbarsting ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · es eclosión ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · de Flut ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · de Ausbruch ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · da udbrud (an eruption, sudden appearance) · de plötzliche Zunahme (a sudden increase) · bg изригване (an eruption, sudden appearance) · ga ráig (an eruption, sudden appearance) · de plötzliches Auftreten ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · es brote (an eruption, sudden appearance) · ga ráig ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · bg изблик (a sudden increase) · de Schwemme (a sudden increase) · ar تَفَشٍّ (an eruption, sudden appearance) · nl explosie (a sudden increase) · cmn 爆發 /爆发 (an eruption, sudden appearance) · cy cychwyn (an eruption, sudden appearance) · ru взрыв (an eruption, sudden appearance) · it insorgenza (an eruption, sudden appearance) · it scoppio (an eruption, sudden appearance) · it esplosione ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · fi aalto (a sudden increase) · fi purkaus (an eruption, sudden appearance) · de Lawine ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · fr explosion (a sudden increase) · nl uitbraak (an eruption, sudden appearance) · nl uitbreken ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · pl wybuch ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · es irrupción (an eruption, sudden appearance) · cy cychwyniad (an eruption, sudden appearance) · fa شیوع (a sudden increase) · fr éruption (an eruption, sudden appearance) · eo ekapero (an eruption, sudden appearance) · it diffusione (a sudden increase) · nl uitbarsting (an eruption, sudden appearance) · ro izbucnire ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · mi kautorohītanga (an eruption, sudden appearance) · de Auftreten (an eruption, sudden appearance) · fr éruption ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · pt surto (an eruption, sudden appearance) · de Massenvermehrung (biol.) (a sudden increase) · nl uitbarsting (a sudden increase) · da bølge (a sudden increase) · cmn 突發事端 /突发事端 ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · de Entfesselung (an eruption, sudden appearance) · fi purkaus ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · ro izbucnire (an eruption, sudden appearance) · de sprunghafter Anstieg (a sudden increase) · fr apparition (an eruption, sudden appearance) · bg въстание ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · cy ffrwydrad ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · es surgimiento ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · es surgimiento (an eruption, sudden appearance) · fi puhkeaminen ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · ca brot (an eruption, sudden appearance) · pl wybuch (an eruption, sudden appearance) · pl wybuch (a sudden increase) · it eruzione ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · mi kaitorohītanga (an eruption, sudden appearance) · cmn 一系列 ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · fr déclenchement (an eruption, sudden appearance) · fa شیوع (an eruption, sudden appearance) · fr explosion ((fig.) an outburst or sudden eruption, especially violent) · ru вспы́шка (an eruption, sudden appearance) · cy tarddiant (an eruption, sudden appearance)