Definition of "break out" in Anglais

Verb

1. To escape, especially forcefully or defiantly.

   • They broke out of prison in the middle of the night.
   • The brigade succeeded in breaking out of the pocket and reunited with friendly forces.

2. To rescue someone or aid their escape as in sense 1.

   • After Big Tony was sent to prison, his friends got together to break him out.

3. To bring out from storage, use, or present.

   • Break out the bubbly and celebrate.
   • Before you immediately break out calculus, consider that there might be a more elegant way to find the answer in this case.
   • Picks and shovels had been perfectly adequate for the sporadic digging we’d had to do over the last month, but when faced with 30 cubic yards of earth to move in at once, we decided to break out the heavy equipment.

4. To separate (something) from a bundle.

   • Break out the cables from the harness once they are inside the frame.

5. To take or force out by breaking.

   • to break out a pane of glass

6. To begin suddenly; to emerge in a certain condition.

   • He broke out in sweat.
   • He broke out in song.
   • The First World War broke out in 1914.

7. To suddenly get pimples or a rash, especially on one's face.

   • break out in hives
   • break out in a rash

8. (Of a record, product, or company): to achieve widespread success.

   • It wasn't until later that her album broke out and she hit the big time.

9. To remove snow from a road or sidewalk.