outage

IPA/ˈaʊtɪdʒ/
KK[ˈaʊtədʒ]IPA/ˈaʊtɪdʒ/

outage — noun

  • outagesingular
  • outagesplural

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

1.nounB2
Definition

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.

Example

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

Common collocations
  • power outage
  • internet outage
  • network outage
  • phone outage
  • service outage
  • widespread outage
  • planned outage
  • outage lasts
  • outage affects
  • during an outage
Synonyms
  • 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

Antonyms
  • supply

    the continuous provision of a service during normal operation

Grammar Patterns

power outage

internet outage

outage + affects / disrupts

Usage Note

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.

Common Mistakes

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'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe a break in normal functioning, but they differ in scope and context. Blackout is the narrowest term, used almost exclusively for a complete loss of electrical power over a large area — a storm can cause a city-wide blackout, but you would not describe a five-minute internet glitch as a blackout. Interruption is the most general and neutral, applying to anything from a conversation to a broadcast signal; it does not carry the sense of inconvenience that disruption implies. Disruption adds the idea that the break causes trouble or confusion — an airline disruption delays travellers, while a power outage may merely be an interruption if the backup generator kicks in immediately. Downtime is technical and usually refers to planned or unplanned periods when a computer system or machine is not operating. For everyday talk about utilities, outage and blackout are the most natural choices; for general or abstract breaks, interruption fits better.

blackout ↗interruption ↗disruption ↗downtime ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • power outage
  • internet outage
  • network outage
  • service outage
  • planned outage
  • widespread outage

Prepositions

Etymology

English

The word 'outage' was formed in English by combining 'out' (meaning 'away, not in operation') with the suffix '-age', following the pattern of similar words like 'breakage' and 'shortage'. It first appeared in the 19th century, originally referring to the amount of a product — especially whiskey or oil — that was lost by leaking during transportation or storage. The modern meaning of 'a period when a service, especially electricity, is not available' came into use in the early 20th century as electrical power grids spread across cities and homes.

First known use

1851

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 1