breakout

noun break·out \ ˈbrāk-ˌau̇t \

Updated on: 20 Apr 2018

1 : a violent or forceful break from a restraining condition or situation; especially : a military attack to break from encirclement

2 : an eruption or inflammation of the skin

Because stress can throw your hormones out of balance, it can make normal sebaceous glands produce oil at an increased rate, causing breakouts.
—Harper's Bazaar

See breakout defined for English-language learners

Examples of breakout in a Sentence

the captives had been planning to stage a breakout at the next change in shift for the guards

Recent Examples of breakout from the Web

Back in 2006, his breakout hit for the Discovery Channel, Man vs. Wild, had him charging alone through savage landscapes, famously consuming everything from maggots to elephant dung to his own pee.

— michael roberts, Outside Online, "How Bear Grylls Keeps on Surviving," 20 Mar. 2018
Presented new product displays and mood boards to the team at Sakroots in interactive breakout sessions.

— seventeen.com editors, Seventeen, "If You're Dreaming of a Fashion or Writing Career in New York City, This Summer Program Is for You!," 15 Mar. 2018
There will also be breakout sessions to allow for smaller groups to engage in discussion.

— michael walsh, Courant Community, "BRAVE Girls Leadership Hosting Conference March 24," 13 Mar. 2018
The Tech Talent Fest will also offer breakout sessions on job-hunting and career-building with local technology company owners and professionals.

— marcia heroux pounds, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Magic Leap, Citrix among tech employers hiring at job fair Tuesday," 12 Mar. 2018
Another breakout session will discuss the importance of routines for potty training, sleep training and how to best implement them in the family setting.

— cathy janek, Aurora Beacon-News, "Workshop for parents in Aurora to focus on young children," 26 Feb. 2018
Multiple breakout sessions will provide information on best practices for successful family businesses.

— mark glover, sacbee, "Family hard to live with? Try working with them. This event can help.," 25 Jan. 2018
The writer has been under scrutiny her entire life—as many debut-novel breakouts are—for not being able to produce another work as good as the first.

— chelsea peng, Marie Claire, "Must-Know 'Go Set a Watchman' Info," 13 July 2015
Zaragoza, a sophomore goalie, had a breakout season for a Falcons squad that tallied seven shutouts.

— grant gordon, latimes.com, "Glendale girls' soccer's seminal season continues with Grigorian garnering league POY," 23 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'breakout.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of breakout

1820

breakout Synonyms

breakout

adjective

: being or relating to a sudden or smashing success especially in comparison to previous efforts

a breakout book

See breakout defined for English-language learners

Examples of breakout in a Sentence

The company had a breakout year last year, tripling its profits from the previous year.

Recent Examples of breakout from the Web

American Ashley Wagner was a surprise omission from the U.S. figure skating roster after Tennell's breakout performances in Skate America and the national championships.

— Anchorage Daily News, "Everything you need to know about the Winter Olympics," 8 Feb. 2018
American Ashley Wagner was a surprise omission from the U.S. figure skating roster after Tennell's breakout performances in Skate America and the national championships.

— the washington post, chicagotribune.com, "Everything you need to know about the Winter Olympics," 7 Feb. 2018
Sparring Partner Next year's breakout Victoria's Secret supermodel, who has a mean right cross.

— benjy hansen-bundy, GQ, "How To Be Better Than Everyone Else In 2018," 7 Feb. 2018
The evening featured a panel presentation and interactive breakout discussion groups aimed to empower singles to share their common experiences and ideas for proactive solutions.

— sergio carmona, Jewish Journal, "South Beach soiree attracts Jewish singles looking for love," 7 Feb. 2018
Johnson said via email, before her breakout weekend.

— chadd cripe, idahostatesman, "U.S. Olympians with ties to Idaho include skier, snowboarders | Idaho Statesman," 6 Feb. 2018
Bartosz Kapustka, a player hyped for his breakout performances for Poland at Euro 2016, failed to play a single Premier League game last season and was loaned to Freiburg for 2017-18.

— SI.com, "Extent of Leicester's Poor 2016 Recruitment Made Clear After Last Signings Leave Club," 2 Feb. 2018
Similarly, Haddish’s spirited turn in Girls Trip was one of the breakout performances of 2017.

— eliza berman, Time, "The Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2018 Oscar Nominations," 23 Jan. 2018
Camila Mendes is best known for her breakout performance as pithy former mean girl Veronica Lodge on The CW's Riverdale.

— julie kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Riverdale's Camila Mendes Impersonates the Internet," 18 Jan. 2018

First Known Use of breakout

1960

break out

verb

intransitive verb

1 : to develop or emerge with suddenness or force

fire broke out

a riot broke out

2 a : to become covered

break out in a sweat

b : to become affected with an eruption or inflammation of the skin

break out in hives

his face broke out with acne

3 : to make a break from a restraining condition or situation

broke out of a slump

broke out of jail

transitive verb

1 a : to make ready for action or use

break out the tents and make camp

b : to produce for consumption

break out a bottle of champagne

2 : to display flying and unfurled

3 : to separate from a mass of data

break out newsstand sales

See break out defined for kids

Examples of break out in a Sentence

in the wake of news reports of deaths from the flu, panic broke out, and there was a mad rush for flu shots

Recent Examples of break out from the Web

Things got so heated that a scuffle broke out during a meeting last summer of the agency’s top security and administrative staff, according to attendees.

— kenneth p. vogel, eric lipton and lisa friedman, New York Times, "At E.P.A., Pruitt’s ‘Sheriff’ Clashed With Critics of Spending," 12 Apr. 2018
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a brief exchange of gunfire broke out Thursday when a group of regime forces along with negotiators and Russian journalists entered Douma and raised the Syrian flag.

— thomas grove, WSJ, "Syrian Government Nears Control of Enclave Hit by Suspected Chemical Attack," 12 Apr. 2018
One civilian was killed and four firefighters injured in a fast-moving fire that broke out on the 50th floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan early Saturday evening.

— chas danner, Daily Intelligencer, "One Dead, 4 Injured After Fire Breaks Out in Trump Tower," 7 Apr. 2018
Naperville residents responded by opening their pantries and closets to help those displaced by the fires that broke out during the Chicago riots.

— suzanne baker, Naperville Sun, "King planted seeds for change at North Central College during Naperville visit, former student/board trustee recalls," 4 Apr. 2018
State news agency Tass reported that a fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping mall in central Kemerovo broke out on the top floor of a four story building and consumed an area of approximately 1,600 meters.

— dakin andone, CNN, "37 dead in fire at Siberian shopping center," 25 Mar. 2018
In 1788, fire broke out in New Orleans on Good Friday, destroying 856 out of more than 1,100 structures; one death was reported.

— BostonGlobe.com, "This day in history," 21 Mar. 2018
West Ham United are facing potential punishments for disturbances that broke out around London Stadium in their recent Premier League defeat to Burnley.

— SI.com, "West Ham Could Be Forced to Play Behind Closed Doors if Crowd Troubles Continue," 16 Mar. 2018
The city and nation outside of the courthouse take notice of the increasingly inflammatory trial — protests in the streets, pundits debating on television, and the sense that violent conflict could break out at any moment.

— lindsey bahr, idahostatesman, "A provocative drama in Oscar-nominated ‘The Insult’ | Idaho Statesman," 15 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'break out.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of break out

before 12th century

break out Synonyms

Synonyms

blaze (up), burst (forth), erupt, explode, flame, flare (up);

Related Words

rocket, skyrocket;

balloon, burgeon (also bourgeon), mount, multiply, mushroom, proliferate, snowball, swell, wax;

blow up, detonate, touch off;

BREAKOUT Defined for English Language Learners

breakout

noun

: an escape from a prison, jail, etc.

breakout

adjective

: having, causing, or marked by sudden and great success that comes usually after a time without much success

Medical Dictionary

breakout

noun break·out \ ˈbrā-ˌkau̇t \

: an eruption or inflammation of the skin

This is especially true for those who have acne and are desperate to stop breakouts without taking prescription antibiotics …
—Stacie Stukin, The Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2007

Because stress can throw your hormones out of balance, it can make normal sebaceous glands produce oil at an increased rate, causing breakouts.
—Harper's Bazaar, May 1981