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# outbreak

noun (an outbreak, outbreaks)

«outbreak» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. An outbreak is the sudden start of something bad, such as a disease, a war or violence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#m1)
2. An outbreak of a disease is when many people suddenly catch it in one place. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#m2)

### In the lessons

In health and science lessons it is used about illnesses spreading (an outbreak of flu, of chickenpox, of food poisoning). In history it marks the start of a war. In safety it tells you to wash hands and stay home when sick. Phrases: «the outbreak of war», «an outbreak of measles», «a fire outbreak».

### Examples

- There was an outbreak of chickenpox at school. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#x1)
- Wash your hands to stop an outbreak spreading. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#x2)
- The outbreak of war changed the family's life. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#x3)
- An outbreak of food poisoning closed the café. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#x4)
- Doctors worked hard during the outbreak. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#x5)
- The weather forecast warned of an outbreak of thunderstorms. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#x6)
- Head lice outbreaks are common in schools. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#x7)
- Many people stayed home during the flu outbreak. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/#x8)

### Note

Countable: outbreaks. Stress on OUT-. Phrasal verb «break out» (war broke out) is the related verb. In maths problems about outbreaks, numbers often grow fast, like doubling.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «outbreak» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/outbreak/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«outbreak» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/outbreak.html) on Mova free.