break out
2 meanings
start suddenly (something bad like a war, fire, or illness)
What does "break out" mean in this sense?
Examples
- A huge fire broke out in the city centre early this morning.
- War had broken out before any diplomatic solution could be found.
- Panic broke out among the crowd when the alarm sounded.
How to use it
The most common pattern — an unpleasant event is the subject, and the verb has no object.
A fire broke out in the warehouse during the night.
A location phrase (in, across, near, etc.) often follows to say where the event happened.
Protests broke out across several cities after the announcement.
A time phrase can be added to say when the event started.
Fighting broke out early in the morning before anyone could react.
Used in conditional or future sentences to talk about possible events or give warnings.
If panic breaks out, it will be very difficult to control the crowd.
Common Collocations
Common Mistakes
In this sense, the subject must be an event or phenomenon (fire, war, riots), never a person. If you use a human subject, it sounds like the 'escape' meaning instead.
Adding 'in' right after 'break out' signals a completely different meaning — developing a skin rash. Leave it out when you mean something started suddenly.
'Break out' describes an instant event, not an ongoing process, so the present continuous sounds unnatural. Use the simple past, present perfect, or simple present instead.
Usage
This phrasal verb is neutral and works in both spoken and written English, but it's especially common in news reports and historical writing. It almost always describes sudden, unpleasant or dangerous events.
escape from a prison or other closed place
Sense 2: What does "break out" mean?
Examples
- Three prisoners broke out of the high-security jail during the night.
- The inmates had been planning to break out for months before they finally escaped.
- How did they manage to break out of such a heavily guarded facility?
How to use it
The most common structure — use 'of' before the confined location the person is escaping from.
Several inmates managed to break out of the detention centre before dawn.
The 'of + place' part can be dropped when the location has already been mentioned or is clear from context.
Guards discovered a tunnel beneath one of the cells. They believe at least four prisoners had already broken out.
Modal or semi-modal expressions are frequently used to describe whether an escape succeeded or was only attempted.
The convicted man attempted to break out twice before being moved to a higher-security unit.
You can extend the pattern to explain how the escape was carried out.
The group broke out of the camp through a tunnel they had dug over several weeks.
Common Collocations
Common Mistakes
Learners sometimes write 'break out from prison' instead of 'break out of prison'. While 'from' is occasionally heard, 'of' is the standard and more natural choice.
When a person or animal is the subject, 'break out' means to escape from a confined place. When the subject is something like a fire, disease, or conflict, 'break out' means to start suddenly. These are two different meanings, so always check who or what the subject is.
'Break out' in this sense is intransitive — it never takes a direct object. The person doing the escaping is always the subject, and the place they escape from follows 'of'.
Usage
This phrasal verb is neutral in register and works equally well in news reports, fiction, and conversation. Always use 'of' before the place of confinement: 'break out of prison', not 'break out from prison' (though 'from' is occasionally heard, 'of' is the standard choice).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can 'break out' be used for positive events, like applause or laughter?
It can be used occasionally, but it sounds most natural with unpleasant or dangerous events. If you do use it for something positive like applause, the sentence should clearly stress how sudden and spontaneous it was — for example, 'Applause broke out across the hall.' It's much less common than with events like war or fire.
Does 'break out' always mean something started? It seems to have other meanings too.
Yes, 'break out' has several different meanings depending on context. This entry only covers the sense of something starting suddenly and unpleasantly. Other meanings — like escaping from prison or developing a skin rash — are separate senses with different grammar clues. The subject and surrounding words usually make it clear which sense is being used.
What kinds of things can 'break out' as subjects?
The most common subjects are things like war, fire, fighting, riots, panic, disease, conflict, and violence. These are all sudden, unpleasant events or phenomena that start without much warning. You can also use it with less dramatic situations, like 'an argument broke out' or 'chaos broke out in the meeting.'
Is 'break out' mainly used in news reports, or can I use it in normal conversation?
Both — it's a neutral phrasal verb that works in everyday speech and in formal or journalistic contexts. You might hear someone say 'a huge argument broke out at dinner last night' just as naturally as you would read 'fighting broke out in the capital' in a newspaper.
Can I say 'a break out' as a noun?
Yes, but it is usually written as one word: 'a breakout.' However, this noun form is most often used to mean an escape (a prison breakout) or a sudden success. For the 'start suddenly' sense, English speakers tend to use a different noun, such as 'the outbreak of war' or 'an outbreak of disease' — note that 'outbreak' is the more natural noun form here.
Does 'break out' always mean escape from prison?
Not always — 'break out' has more than one meaning. In this sense, it specifically refers to escaping from a physically confined place like a prison or jail. However, the same phrasal verb is also used to describe something starting suddenly, like a fire or a disease. A separate section on this page covers the other senses.
Can 'break out' be used in the passive — for example, 'the prison was broken out of'?
No, this doesn't work in English. Because 'break out' is intransitive (it has no direct object), it cannot be made passive. The person escaping is always the subject of the sentence.
Can I use 'break out' to describe escaping from something non-physical, like a difficult situation?
In a figurative sense, yes — for example, 'she finally broke out of her old routine'. However, this shades into a slightly different meaning, closer to 'freeing yourself from a constraining circumstance'. The core sense on this page refers to physically escaping a confined place such as a prison or cell, so it's worth keeping the two uses distinct.
Is it natural to say 'they will be breaking out' or 'she breaks out every week'?
These forms sound forced or unnatural for this sense. Escaping from a confined place is typically a one-time or planned event, not an ongoing or repeated routine. The simple past, present perfect, and modal + infinitive forms ('managed to break out', 'had broken out') are the most natural choices.
What kinds of places can you 'break out of'?
The complement is usually a physical place of confinement — prison, jail, a cell, a detention centre, a POW camp, or custody. It doesn't work naturally with ordinary buildings or rooms unless there is a clear sense that someone is being held there against their will.
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