break out

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To break out is to escape from prison — and also what wars and fires suddenly do. Two senses about something getting loose.

The escape sense gives the noun a breakout, which is what films are made about. The sudden-start sense covers war, fire, fighting and disease, so an outbreak is the noun there. There are two smaller uses: breaking out in a rash or a sweat is involuntary, and breaking out of a routine means escaping something confining. Breaking out the good glasses means fetching them for an occasion.

Definitions of break out

1phraseescapeTo escape from confinement.B2
“Two men tried to break out through the roof.”
2phrasebreak outOf war, fire or disease, to begin suddenly.B2
“Fighting could break out again at any time.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 20 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

← Vocabulary

break out

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To break out is to escape from prison — and also what wars and fires suddenly do. Two senses about something getting loose.

Definitions of break out

1phraseescapeTo escape from confinement.B2
“Two men tried to break out through the roof.”
2phrasebreak outOf war, fire or disease, to begin suddenly.B2
“Fighting could break out again at any time.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 20 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word