breakout

views updated May 14 2018

break·out / ˈbrākˌout/ • n. 1. a forcible escape, typically from prison: a prison breakout. ∎  [in sing.] (in soccer, hockey, and other sports) a sudden attack by a team that had been defending.2. [in sing.] an outbreak: a breakout of hostilities.3. a catergorized list: an excellent breakout of Web sites by topic.• adj. inf. 1. suddenly and extremely popular or successful: a breakout movie.2. denoting or relating to groups that break away from a conference or other larger gathering for discussion: we divided into 15 breakout groups.

More From encyclopedia.com