outage

/ˈaʊtɪdʒ/ (bre, ipa) · [ˈaʊtədʒ] /ˈaʊtɪdʒ/ (ame, ipa) · [ˈaʊtədʒ] /ˈau̇-tij/ (ame, mw)

outage — noun

  • outagesingular
  • outagesplural

1. a stretch of time when a service that people normally use — for example, the ele

1.名詞B2
釋義

a stretch of time when a service that people normally use — for example, the electricity supply, the internet, or phone networks — stops working or is cut off.

例句

A powerful storm caused a widespread power outage across the coastal town last night.

collocation: power outage

The school sent a message to parents about the internet outage that disrupted morning classes.

collocation: internet outage

同義詞
  • blackout

    refers specifically to a total loss of electrical power, often across a wide area; does not apply to internet or phone outages

  • interruption

    more general term that can apply to any ongoing process or activity, not limited to utility services

  • disruption

    emphasises the inconvenience and chaos caused by the break in service, rather than just the break itself

反義詞
  • supply

    the continuous provision of a service during normal operation

文法句型

power outage

internet outage

outage + affects / disrupts

用法筆記

Frequently appears in compound nouns where the service type comes before 'outage', e.g. power outage, internet outage, phone outage. The word is most common in news reports about utility or technical failures.

常見錯誤

❌There was an outage of the computer.
✅There was a computer outage.
💡When specifying the affected service, place the service type before 'outage' rather than using 'outage of'.