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Antonyms for break out


Grammar : Verb
Spell : breyk
Phonetic Transcription : breɪk



Definition of break out

Origin :
  • Old English brecan "to break, shatter, burst; injure, violate, destroy, curtail; break into, rush into; burst forth, spring out; subdue, tame" (class IV strong verb; past tense bræc, past participle brocen), from Proto-Germanic *brekan (cf. Old Frisian breka, Dutch breken, Old High German brehhan, German brechen, Gothic brikan), from PIE root *bhreg- "to break" (see fraction). Most modern senses were in Old English. In reference to the heart from early 13c. Meaning "to disclose" is from early 13c.
  • Break bread "share food" (with) is from late 14c. Break the ice is c.1600, in reference to the "coldness" of encounters of strangers. Break wind first attested 1550s. To break (something) out (1890s) probably is an image from dock work, of freeing cargo before unloading it. Ironic theatrical good luck formula break a leg has parallels in German Hals- und Beinbruch "break your neck and leg," and Italian in bocca al lupo. Evidence of a highly superstitious craft (cf. Macbeth).
  • verb happen, emerge
  • verb escape
Example sentences :
  • If we bide here, who knows that some fresh tumult may not break out.
  • Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • As to Fire in the prison, if one were to break out while he lay there?
  • Extract from : « Little Dorrit » by Charles Dickens
  • Yet it had sufficed that the nations should flock there for a pestilence to break out.
  • Extract from : « The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete » by Emile Zola
  • As it was, the effect it had upon me made him break out into execrations and menaces.
  • Extract from : « Clarissa, Volume 3 (of 9) » by Samuel Richardson
  • It will only be a matter of weeks—perhaps even days—it may break out to-morrow.
  • Extract from : « The Harbor » by Ernest Poole
  • They felt so happy there, and seemed to break out into a new life.
  • Extract from : « Abbe Mouret's Transgression » by Emile Zola
  • Girls are like the hawthorns; when they break out into blossom, they do all they can.
  • Extract from : « Abbe Mouret's Transgression » by Emile Zola
  • Sometimes they break out unexpected, like chickenpox in the 'Old Men's Home.'
  • Extract from : « The Depot Master » by Joseph C. Lincoln
  • She would laugh and then be silent, and then break out into laughter again.
  • Extract from : « The Shadow of a Crime » by Hall Caine
  • If the fever should break out this summer, Richling, will you go away?
  • Extract from : « Dr. Sevier » by George W. Cable

Synonyms for break out

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019