as in erupting
to develop suddenly and violently
in the wake of news reports of deaths from the flu, panic broke out, and there was a mad rush for flu shots
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Recent Examples of breaking out
Raleigh snapped the longest hitless streak in the major leagues during the team’s 10-2 win over the Astors on Tuesday, breaking out of an 0-38 slump with a pair of singles.
—
Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 15 May 2026
Rookies were instructed through stretches and warmups before breaking out into positional drills during the media-viewing portion of rookie minicamp.
—David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 8 May 2026
Height turned 25 two weeks ago after playing six seasons at four schools, finally breaking out with the Red Raiders in 2025.
—Vic Tafur, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
According to Rubin, 37, the Angels & Airwaves musician is allegedly known for breaking out alien autopsy images.
—Ilana Kaplan, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
Perry sat behind upperclassmen for two seasons, before breaking out as a junior and leading the Wolverines to two state championships.
—Aaron Heisen, Daily News, 4 Apr. 2026
Survival of the mid-major programs depends on breaking out and forming their own conglomeration.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026
But just then, a battle was breaking out on a podium just a few yards away.
—Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026
Police said the gathering soon turned contentious, with multiple fights breaking out, and a judge recently sentenced one of the men involved.
—Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 30 Jan. 2026
Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 15 May 2026
Rookies were instructed through stretches and warmups before breaking out into positional drills during the media-viewing portion of rookie minicamp.
—David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 8 May 2026
Height turned 25 two weeks ago after playing six seasons at four schools, finally breaking out with the Red Raiders in 2025.
—Vic Tafur, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
According to Rubin, 37, the Angels & Airwaves musician is allegedly known for breaking out alien autopsy images.
—Ilana Kaplan, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
Perry sat behind upperclassmen for two seasons, before breaking out as a junior and leading the Wolverines to two state championships.
—Aaron Heisen, Daily News, 4 Apr. 2026
Survival of the mid-major programs depends on breaking out and forming their own conglomeration.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026
But just then, a battle was breaking out on a podium just a few yards away.
—Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026
Police said the gathering soon turned contentious, with multiple fights breaking out, and a judge recently sentenced one of the men involved.
—Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 30 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaking out
Verb
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Broadcasting that day, NBC cut to an ultrawide shot of the crowd erupting in jubilation.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
11 June 2026
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With little apparent progress in the peace talks, Israel and Iran firing at each other again, and the Houthis joining the fight, the risk of the war fully erupting again appeared higher than at any point since the ceasefire.—
Jon Gambrell,
Chicago Tribune,
8 June 2026
Verb
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Atlanta trailed 25-13 after one quarter before exploding for 34 points in the second, the team's highest-scoring second quarter of the season, to flip the game entirely.—
Christopher Harris,
CBS News,
15 June 2026
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In a recent blog post, Asha Sharma laid out many issues ranging from tiny division margins to exploding component costs, all balanced with its biggest gamer complaint, a lack of big Xbox first-party games, and namely big first-party games that are Xbox exclusives.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Breaking out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breaking%20out. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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