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”).
1
An eruption; the sudden appearance of a rash, disease, etc.
Any epidemic outbreak causes understandable panic.
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:
2
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:
3
Figuratively An outburst or sudden eruption, especially of violence and mischief.
There has been an outbreak of broken windows in the street.
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”).