noun

• A sudden occurrence of something unwelcome, such as war or disease.

  ‘the outbreak of World War II’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The country's prisons are so congested that they are prone to disease outbreaks.’
  • ‘It will also look at how the outbreaks of the disease in Holland, France and the Republic of Ireland were handled.’
  • ‘The combination has lead to the increase in outbreaks of the disease.’
  • ‘Today there are occasional outbreaks of their modern equivalents, mostly in small groups in exposed areas.’
  • ‘Avian cholera outbreaks occur primarily in winter and early spring.’
  • ‘The situation is easing, although sporadic fresh outbreaks are still occurring.’
  • ‘The World Health Organisation says to prevent serious outbreaks of disease, the uptake needs to be around 95 per cent.’
  • ‘Witnesses reported sporadic outbreaks of violence and houses being torched.’
  • ‘We learned of a deadly cholera outbreak in the area.’
  • ‘Their clan elders, however, are attempting to calm them down, fearing the outbreak of civil war.’
  • ‘According to the National Disease Surveillance Centre, last year's outbreaks caused at least 2,000 people to become ill.’
  • ‘Conditions in Australian cities were so poor that Sydney suffered an outbreak of plague at the turn of the century.’
  • ‘The opportunity presented itself in 1866 with the outbreak of hostilities between Austria and Prussia.’
  • ‘Recently the city witnessed an outbreak of gastroenteritis, which claimed seven lives.’
  • ‘Acute diarrhoea was rare in these sections, and no outbreaks of gastroenteritis were recorded.’
  • ‘In California a three-person outbreak of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome occurred in patients in a hospital.’
  • ‘The bathing had been ordered to control an outbreak of scabies, a skin disease.’
  • ‘Reported outbreaks affect females disproportionately more often than males, and frequently involve adolescents or children.’
  • ‘As the outbreak spread, political and medical authorities kept a tight lid on information.’
  • ‘Within two weeks of its onset, the outbreak spread throughout the district.’

  Synonyms

  eruption, flare-up, upsurge, outburst, epidemic, breakout, sudden appearance, rash, wave, spate, flood, explosion, burst, blaze, flurry

  start, beginning, onset, breaking out, opening, outset, day one, inception, dawn, genesis

  View synonyms