A sudden escape or emergence from confinement or restriction, or a sudden occurrence of something undesirable like violence or disease. Can also refer to a person's first major success or breakthrough.
Compound of 'break' and 'out,' first recorded in the early 20th century. Originally used in military and prison contexts to describe escapes, it later expanded to describe sudden outbursts of various phenomena, from disease outbreaks to market breakouts.
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