Skip to content

break out

verb

  1. to free, escape confinement
  2. introduce
  3. develop acne
  4. onset, arise
L1411725 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

verb

  1. To escape, especially forcefully or defiantly.

    They broke out of prison in the middle of the night.

    The brigade succeeded in breaking out of the pocket and reunited with friendly forces.

  2. To rescue someone or aid their escape as in sense 1.

    After Big Tony was sent to prison, his friends got together to break him out.

  3. To bring out from storage, use, or present.

    Break out the bubbly and celebrate.

    Before you immediately break out calculus, consider that there might be a more elegant way to find the answer in this case.

  4. To separate (something) from a bundle.

    Break out the cables from the harness once they are inside the frame.

  5. To take or force out by breaking.

    to break out a pane of glass

  6. To begin suddenly; to emerge in a certain condition.

    He broke out in sweat.

    He broke out in song.

  7. To suddenly get pimples or a rash, especially on one's face.

    break out in hives

    break out in a rash

  8. (Of a record, film, product, or company): to achieve widespread success.

    It wasn't until later that her album broke out and she hit the big time.

    The record first happened a few years ago in Florida and had considerable sales. A year later, the record broke out again in Florida and again experienced considerable sales. Both times, it either made the chart or bubbled under.

  9. To remove snow from a road or sidewalk.

    Art. 24—To see what action the town will take in relation to breaking out highways and what portion of the road money, if any, shall be reserved for this purpose.

break out — meaning, definition (verb) · Vinony