break out
— phrasal verb with break uk/breɪk/us/breɪk/verb broke, broken
(START)
B2 If something dangerous or unpleasant breaks out, it suddenly starts:
War broke out in 1914.
Fighting has broken out all over the city.
break out in a rash, sweat, etc.
to suddenly have red marks or sweat appear on your skin:
She broke out in a rash after eating some strawberries.
It didn't take much exercise to make him break out in (a) sweat.
When I heard the noise I broke out in a cold sweat.
More examples
- I break out in a cold sweat just thinking about public speaking.
- There's a sense of foreboding in the capital, as if fighting might at any minute break out.
- The ambassador was recalled when war broke out.
- Fighting broke out in the stands five minutes before the end of the match.
- An argument broke out and in the ensuing fight, a gun went off.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Starting and beginning
- be in the first flush of idiom
- become
- begin
- branch out
- break into sth
- export
- get down to business idiom
- ground
- incipient
- initiator
- instate
- introduce
- kick
- strike
- swing into action idiom
- touch sth off
- train
- trigger
- wade in
- weave
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Being & falling ill
(ESCAPE)
to escape from prison:
They broke out of prison and fled the country.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Running away and escaping
- abscond
- back away
- back off
- be at large idiom
- be on the run idiom
- flee
- fugitive
- gaolbreak
- getaway
- go/be run to ground idiom
- heel
- leg
- loose
- scram
- shake
- shake sb/sth off
- shoot through
- skedaddle
- slip
- throw
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