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Definition of outbreak
1a : a sudden or violent increase in activity or currency the outbreak of warb : a sudden rise in the incidence of a disease an outbreak of measlesc : 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 of outbreak from the Web
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According to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, canine H3N2 influenza was first identified after an outbreak in Chicago in 2015.
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But acceptance began to build after the vaccine was successfully deployed during Haiti’s massive cholera outbreak in 2012.
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Two businesses laid off employees as a direct result of the Zika outbreak.
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After the outbreak, regulators found multiple potential sources of contamination, including standing water and mold and bacteria in the air and on workers’ gloved fingertips.
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Within a couple of hours of the outbreak, an apparently prescient blog post published last year by the Grenfell Action Group regarding safety and living conditions was circulating on the Internet.
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Though known as a lead-poisoning incident, the crisis brought on by the city’s crumbling water infrastructure also prompted an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, from which at least 10 people were killed since 2014.
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Wells is also accused of threatening to withhold funding to the Flint Area Community Health and Environment Partnership unless the partnership ceased its investigation into the source of the Legionnaires' outbreak.
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The injection abuse has been linked to outbreaks of HIV, hepatitis C and blood disorders.
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.
First Known Use of outbreak
1562
OUTBREAK Defined for English Language Learners
outbreak
playDefinition of outbreak for English Language Learners
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: a sudden start or increase of fighting or disease
OUTBREAK Defined for Kids
outbreak
playDefinition of outbreak for Students
: a sudden occurrence or increase of something an outbreak of chicken pox
Medical Dictionary
outbreak
playMedical Definition of outbreak
1: a sudden rise in the incidence of a disease an outbreak of measles
2: a sudden increase in numbers of a harmful organism and especially an insect within a particular area an outbreak of locusts
Learn More about outbreak
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See words that rhyme with outbreak Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for outbreak Spanish Central: Translation of outbreak Nglish: Translation of outbreak for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of outbreak for Arabic speakers
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