1
as in flurry
a sudden and usually temporary growth of activity there was an immediate outbreak of paper shuffling and a pretense of work when the supervisor passed through the room

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2
as in revolt
open fighting against authority (as one's own government) the government quelled the outbreak with ruthless efficiency

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of outbreak Lea County borders Gaines County, Texas, the center of another outbreak that now stands at 159 cases, including one death. Neha Mukherjee, CNN, 6 Mar. 2025 The deceased New Mexico resident who tested positive for measles lived in Lea County, which is just over the border from Gaines County, Texas, where a measles outbreak that is still underway has mainly been concentrated. Kierra Frazier, CBS News, 6 Mar. 2025 The outbreak has disproportionately affected those in low-income communities, and two people have died from it. Karen Dobos, The Conversation, 6 Mar. 2025 An outbreak involving more than two locations in Tarrant County would prompt officials to open a testing and vaccination site that could serve 250 to 1,500 people daily. Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for outbreak
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outbreak
Noun
  • After a flurry of offense, Paul taunted Canada and was mauled by Priest because of it.
    Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2025
  • But beyond a flurry of appointments of crypto-friendly officials when Trump took office, there has been little concrete news around that policy for investors.
    Rae Wee and Brigid Riley, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Go deeper: Mike Johnson struggles to contain a GOP budget revolt Editor's note: This is a developing story.
    Andrew Solender, Axios, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Ray, although in his forties, was at one with youth in revolt.
    Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • For a color burst, look to Proenza Schouler, Dear Frances, and Cos—these pleasant spring hues will break up the dreariness of the current season.
    Cortne Bonilla, Vogue, 5 Mar. 2025
  • Customers, including businesses, governments and individuals, will be able to request light bursts by simply entering their location's GPS coordinates online.
    Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report, Fox News, 4 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • McKinley took a similar approach in dealing with Spain during its brutal effort to suppress an insurrection in Cuba against Spanish imperial rule.
    Robert W. Merry, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Mar. 2025
  • His clemency toward those convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection – including seditious conspiracy and assaults on police officers – was different in key ways from the two previous efforts, by Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Ulysses S. Grant in 1873.
    David Cason, The Conversation, 7 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Still, his 2025 projections (28 HRs, 88 RBIs, 28 SBs) are more along the lines of his 2022 AL Rookie of the Year campaign rather than his 2023 outburst (32 HRs, 103 RBIs, 37 SBs).
    Larry Holder, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Now comes Baldwin’s latest public outburst, around the same time as his show’s premiere.
    Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Early in the uprising, Masri's home in Homs was known a safe haven.
    Jawad Rizkallah, NPR, 5 Mar. 2025
  • Most of them were imprisoned during the first and second intifadas, uprisings by Palestinians against Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank.
    Zeena Saifi, CNN, 4 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Death in a hail of bullets has been used to punish mutinies and desertion in armies, as frontier justice in America’s Old West, and as a tool of terror and political repression in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
    Jeffrey Collins, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Business leaders face challenges, including the frantic need for speedy decision-making, unexpected market shifts, geopolitical volatility, internal mutinies, power plays and harrowing decisions that can hurt the livelihood of their teams by cutting jobs.
    Carlo Tortora Brayda, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Or just a brilliant disguise?’ - from Brilliant Disguise Rock 'n' roll has always embodied rebellion and dissent.
    Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Set in the Alentejo region of southern Portugal, where Mateus was raised, a peasant community of grape-pickers become agents in an open-air ritual of remembrance and rebellion.
    Zac Ntim, Deadline, 26 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Outbreak.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outbreak. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

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