outbreak

noun

out·break | \ ˈau̇t-ˌbrāk

Definition of outbreak

1a : a sudden or violent increase in activity or currency the outbreak of war

b : a sudden rise in the incidence of a disease an outbreak of measles

c : a sudden increase in numbers of a harmful organism and especially an insect within a particular area an outbreak of locusts

2 : insurrection, revolt

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Examples of outbreak in a Sentence

there was an immediate outbreak of paper shuffling and a pretense of work when the supervisor passed through the room the government quelled the outbreak with ruthless efficiency

Recent Examples on the Web

The current Ebola outbreak is the second deadliest following the 2014-2016 epidemic where more than 11,000 people died after contracting the disease. — Fox News, "Ebola fears worsen after more than 300,000 flee the Congo over violent ethnic clashes: report," 19 June 2019 Last month, county health officials said there had been no measles cases recorded in San Diego this year, but warned that a recent multi-state measles outbreak was approaching after a case was confirmed in Orange County. — Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Health officials say testing shows measles scare at La Mesa urgent care unfounded," 19 June 2019 Measles outbreaks are a burden on government funding. — Brianna Abbott, WSJ, "Measles Outbreaks Strain Local Health Departments," 16 June 2019 On the other hand, declaring a PHEIC could be interpreted as the outbreak being a global emergency, Aavitsland said. — Kai Kupferschmidt, Science | AAAS, "WHO unexpectedly declines, again, to call Ebola outbreak a global emergency," 14 June 2019 Ebola kills anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of patients, depending on the strain and where the outbreak is. — NBC News, "What is Ebola? What to know about symptoms, vaccine, outbreaks," 12 June 2019 Arizona Florence: An outbreak of mumps among immigrants detained in federal facilities in Pinal County is fueling a statewide spike in cases. — USA TODAY, "Black Union regiment flag, Notorious BIG, Pikachu the mini pony: News from around our 50 states," 12 June 2019 Measles outbreaks have been much worse in other parts of the nation. — Rong-gong Lin Ii, latimes.com, "Measles-infected person travels through LAX airport on Memorial Day weekend," 7 June 2019 The ongoing outbreak is the tenth in DRC’s history. — Yomi Kazeem, Quartz Africa, "DR Congo’s Ebola outbreak cases have doubled in just two months crossing the 2,000-mark," 5 June 2019

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